


Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

by TheFlyingPotato



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/M, Fantasy, Humor, Science Fiction, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 11:06:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 88,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17938541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFlyingPotato/pseuds/TheFlyingPotato
Summary: To defeat Horus and his fellow traitors wouldn't be easy. While the Emperor answered Horus' open challenge at Istvaan III by dispatching seven of his sons to deal with their errant brothers, the Imperium dispatched a battle group of the best forces on hand at the time to deal a blow to the traitors by attacking a Dark Mechanicus Forge World to cripple the traitor forces. Though it seems the Dark Gods have other plans.





	1. Prologue

Desperate Times Call for Desperate Measures: Chapter One – Prologue

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

The Gloriana-class Battleship was one of the most powerful warships in all of the Imperium. The mighty fleets of the Legiones Astartes were the primary users of these devastating warships, but a few had found their way into particularly important battle groups of the Armada Imperialis. What the general public and many less informed members of the Imperial Army and even the Legiones Astartes didn’t know was that the Gloriana was merely a catch-all term developed for a single class of warship.

Scholars argued whether the mighty class of vessel would owe its origins to the Martian Ring of Iron, or the orbital docks of Saturn or Jupiter. The truth however, was that the various patterns of the vessel owed their origin to all three shipwrights. The Saturnyne-pattern of the Gloriana was in heavy use with the Saturnyne Ordo and it is argued that the class alone was what staved off the various threats that had plagued them over the years.

It is this variant and the Jovian-pattern that would later see service in Battlefleet Solar and other Imperialis Armada fleets, as rare as they were. Some argued that it was because it was improper for other organizations in the Imperium to make use of the same vessels used by the Primarchs, however, the vessels created for the Primarchs for the most part came from the Martian Ring of Iron. These other patterns faded into obscurity in the eye of the Imperial public as the Primarchs led the expeditionary fleets with their flagships at the head.

For Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington, her vessel would always hold a special place in her heart. The Saturnyne-pattern Gloriana was little over 21 kilometers long, and had a frightening array of weapons. The prow mounted Ryza-pattern Nova Cannon was the ship’s most striking feature, and was a seamless part of the vessel despite being a later retrofit to replace the damaged Jovian-pattern that had originally been mounted on the ship.

The ship’s majestic armored prow and ostentatious display of firepower that was the prow slung Nova Cannon served to distract from a Plasma Accelerated Torpedo Tube hidden behind carefully placed blast doors. Dorsal weapons arrays consisted of three deadly and long ranged, but power hungry Godsbane-pattern Lance Battery emplacements. While the dorsal section of the ship was occupied by a single Jovian-pattern Landing Bay for deployment of atmospheric craft, the deployment of which was supported by a pair of Grav-Accelerated Saturnyne-pattern Bombardment Cannons.

Ships of the Imperialis Armada that joined the Expeditionary Fleets preferred to make use of energy weapons, as while they consumed more power and were harder to repair if critically damaged they prevented the weapon from being rendered altogether useless if supply lines were to be affected for any reason. It is for this reason that the Bombardment Cannons were not only used sparingly, but rather begrudgingly, the crew watching over the ammunition stores for the weapon with a vigilance that would put a mother Lion of ancient Terra to shame.

The energy based weapon preference was why the ship was equipped with a pair of Hecutor Plasma Broadsides that ‘sandwiched’ a Sunsear Las-Broadside, the faster firing laser batteries complementing the sheer power of the plasma broadside. Toward the rear end of the ship, on both sides, was a Jovian-pattern Landing Bay. The Ventral, Starboard and Port bays were all interconnected so that ships and supplies could very easily be shifted between them if need be.

A Castellan Shield Complex system was part of the many gifts the Martian adepts brought with them when the Imperium and the Saturnyne Ordo became allies, and the latter pledged its forces to the massive undertaking that was the Great Crusade. Somehow, the Tech Adepts of Mars had managed to integrate the system with the ship’s segmented shielding system that allowed it to shunt power to vectors that were under greater assault.

It never ceased to amaze her how much better the combination of the Energistic Conversion Matrixes and STC based Mars-Pattern Class 5.B “Gamma” Drives were. When you combined that with the ship’s Gyro-stabilization Matrix, powerful retro thrusters and arrestor engine baffle system that in essence gave the ship the equivalent of the thrust vectoring system found on terrestrial craft, the vessel behaved more like an oversized cruiser than a battleship. Her crew had proven to her just how much of the case that had been when she’d led the fleet into battle against foul xenos and non-compliant human empires.

Even all of this was not even scratching the technological marvels that made the ship function daily. A long time ago, realizing that this was what man was capable of when they came together. The liberation of her home world, along with her experiences during the Crusade had shown her that if man didn’t unite, the universe would have no qualms with driving him into debased madness and deviancy. Open to treaties and dealings with foul xenos species, she didn’t believe that there were any xenos species out there that were naïve enough to have ‘good intentions’ in mind for anyone they came across.

Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington had been serving the Imperium for one hundred and seventy-five years now, and this ship had been serving alongside her for that very same period of time. Most of its bridge crew had long died and been replaced over the years, but Thalia and her XO had been one of the few people that had been a consistent presence on the ship’s bridge.

Thalia had been fighting against the enemies of Saturn long before she was fighting against the enemies of man alongside the other forces of the Great Crusade, and in all her years of fighting she never thought the great undertaking to reunite the lost worlds of man would ever end in this, that the mighty Astartes and their near God-like Primarchs would ever bring about a conflict against their brothers and the Imperium that would throw the galaxy itself into turmoil. Now one of the mightiest of them all, Horus Luprecal, no less than the Imperial Warmaster himself was leading the traitors. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

Had the 21st Expeditionary not suffered such vicious losses in their latest operation against the Selobians of Selob IV, they would not have been sent back to Saturn to lick their wounds, had that not happened then they would not have escaped the treachery of the Warmaster and those who supported them. Seeing as they were slated to reinforce the forces of the Warmaster, but the losses taken meant that the 4th and 5th Saturnyne Rams were almost completely devastated, and combined into a single cohort, with a newly raised unit from Saturn joining to take their place.

She and their leader, Lord Marshall Bertie Lissie, went a very long way back. In fact, they’d served together as part of the attempts to free Saturn from xenos oppression. The Saturnyne Fleets were mobilized, and Thalia was attached to her father's fleet as they made a push to take back the moon. However, it would soon become apparent that it was an elaborate trap. Their fleet found themselves surrounded, and under fire from ground side defenses.

It became clear, that the only option was to try and get some troops down to silence the guns. A certain Marshall, Marshall Lissie in fact, had volunteered his men for the job. Thalia needed to get them close enough for their dropships to get them down to the surface. Surrounded, any attempt to break formation would spell certain doom. It was then that Thalia's father, recognizing the futility of their current situation, led a diversionary charge on the enemy lines.

It had its intended effect, the Xenos and captured Saturnyne ships were forced to attack Lord Admiral Parrington's ships. Thalia had two options, try and help her father and likely die alongside him, or get Marshall Lissie and his men close enough to get the guns offline. It was a decision that would weigh heavy in her heart for many years to come, but she used her father's distraction to get Marshall Lissie's Saturnyne Rams close enough to the planet to get their smaller dropships down.

Her father's last words to her were to tell her that he was very proud of the woman she'd grown into, and he knew she'd always do what was right, no matter how much it hurt. It was the one time she was grateful for the helmet she wore, so that her crew members didn't see the tears flowing freely down her face.

However, with the guns eventually taken down, what was left of the fleet were able to rout the Xenos ships for the time being. They'd won, for now. As a result of her actions, and given the loss of her father, she was promoted to Lord Admiral. A battered, but prized Victory-class Battleship was given to her to command. The Saturnyne Fleet held out against these xenos and the Ringers for long, and with the arrival of the Imperium, Thalia was able to lead her forces alongside theirs to take back their worlds. The brutal efficiency with which she worked, was not lost on the Imperial commanders or her own superiors. When the time came to join the Great Crusade, Thalia was given command of a freshly constructed Gloriana-class Battleship, one that was constructed specifically to replace the one her father had.

The Great Crusade wound on from then, and she and Bertie had formed a close friendship, and then perhaps what was little more than a close friendship. Happily married more than a hundred years was not often something one would hear someone say, but in all fairness it had taken Bertie the better part of eighty years to actually get her to agree. It was stupid, and ridiculous to some, but few understood the issues of trying to maintain a relationship when you’re managing the Naval assets of a fleet as large as the one she was in command of. No matter how well Bertie played it off, she knew he was having issues as well.

“Here’s the ground forces manifest, ma’am,” said her XO, her voice snapping Thalia out of her thoughts as she looked up from the holographic display of the fleet that her command throne was displaying. Captain Serrina Mojaro stood over her, auburn hair that normally reached up till her shoulders was neatly tied and tucked her officer’s cap, not a spot on her Solar-pattern Void Hardened Carapace Armor, each plate reflecting the Lord Admiral’s own face in them. Serrina’s officer’s power sword and Saturnine-pattern ‘Officer’ Plasma Pistol sat in their sheath and holster respectively.

Thalia flashed her a respectful smile, followed by an equally respectful nod as she took the dataslate from her. “Thank you, Captain,” she said, looking at the device’s display. She returned the nod and went back to observing the status of the ship by monitoring the various bridge crew members. As she looked at the information on the screen in front of him, joining the 21st was a detachment of the Legio Cybernetica, Skitarii and even a detachment from the Collegia Titanica’s Legio Irae.

Normally, Thalia would question what target would warrant this sort of force but at the same time would preclude the use of Astartes. But she knew the stakes. After news of the Istvaan III massacre had reached Terra, thanks to still loyal Astartes from the now traitor Legions, the Emperor prepared a massive response from seven other Legions to prepare to head out and confront the arch-traitor. But it was clear, without cutting off Horus’ support from those Mechanicus worlds that had supported him, those clearly no longer allied to the Imperium, there would be no winning this war. Their orders were simple, attack a traitor Mechanicus forge world on the edge of what was now traitor space. Unfortunately, because as many Astartes as possible were necessary to potentially bring down the arch-traitor, none could be spared on this diversionary attack.

But this attack as everyone knew, both those directing it and those taking part in it, would not take place without heavy losses on both sides, and it was hoped that despite these losses, the damage to the forge world would be enough to prevent them from supplying the traitors, buying time for the other Legions to withdraw from their current engagements.

However, this was to be their last ‘hurrah’, their last journey out into the void. If they came back, they were to be decommissioned as with the rest of the Saturnyne Ordo’s Navy, which apparently didn’t fit the Departmento Munitorum’s vision of the Imperialis Armada. All things said and done, this was hardly the worst way to go out, she could think of several that were worse.

Placing the dataslate on the armrest of her command throne, Thalia turned to her XO, “Captain Mojaro, inform Lord Marshall Lissie and Archmagos Reductor Hypax that I’d like to meet with them. Tell the Marshall that I’ll be awaiting the arrival of the Archmagos in the port side launch bay.” Thalia and Bertie both knew Hypax well. He’d been among the first forces of the nascent Imperium that they’d encountered, and the three of them had formed a fast friendship. They’d met years later, while serving alongside the forces of the Emperor’s favorite son, Horus Luprecal, before Hypax and his force from the Ordo Reductor departed to join the enigmatic 20th Legion on a compliance operation. Such were the forces of the Ordo Reductor, drifting from battlefield to battlefield, and it was this that had earned them the moniker of the ‘Brazen Vultures’, both due to how their Galleas-class Long Ranged Warships they made use of had the appearance of a giant metal vulture and due to their battlefield roaming modus operandi.

“Aye, ma’am,” said Captain Mojaro as she went about her orders, walking over to the communications station to inform the crewman of the message she wished to send. With that, Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington stood to her feet. She turned around, heading for the bridge exit, passing beeping cogitator banks and various bridge stations, crewed by Naval officers as well as Tech-Priests and their adepts.

As she walked on, the red robed form of Tech-Priest Severin stepped into his path. All sorts of pipes, cables and appendages snaked out from beneath his robes, a servo harness on his back. Most of the harness servo arms were folded out of reach to take up less space on the ship’s bridge. “Lord Admiral,” said Severin in his usual grating voice that was further distorted by his vox-caster. “Cogitator interlinks performing at maximum efficiency. I have personally checked the Auto-Stabilized Logis Targeter and further calibrations with our weapon systems given previous engagement data has increased accuracy by a total of two percent. I’m proud to report that the targeting matrix is as optimized as possible. All other automated systems are responding as they should.”

“Thank you, Tech-Priest,” replied Thalia. The complicated automated systems were required for a ship of this size to be able to efficiently target smaller craft, especially with its limited traverse broadside weapon mounts. This was something that few in the Departmento Munitorum understood, and she’d heard of a motion they’d tried to pass which removed autoloaders from smaller warships. The mere concept had given her a splitting headache as she tried to understand the brain dead thought process that spawned such an idea. She’d long given up trying to look at the man’s face with all the cables and tubes flowing into the man’s long hood that obscured his head and the machinery that covered his face. “I trust you’ll inform me of any developments,” she then said as her way of saying that she had nothing further to say.

“Of course, Lord Admiral,” said the Tech-Priest as he stepped out of the Thalia’s path, humming to himself, an electronic distortion giving a slightly eerie edge to his voice. Continuing toward the exit of the bridge, the Admiral caught sight of the Master Gunner looking over the weapon’s consoles of several other crew man, smiling to herself as she heard the veteran remind the comparatively less experienced crew men about the defining characteristics of each of the ship’s weapon systems, both defensive and offensive. She’d witnessed rookie gunners fail to understand the interface of the point defense weapons and overshoot a target. It was possible for the ship’s targeting cogitators to control the guns, but manning the guns freed up its processing power to computer more accurate solutions for the main guns.

Nodding to the quartet of Saturnyne Void Hoplites led by Void Sergeant Boggs, she walked out of the bridge making her way toward the elevator that would take her down to the hangar. As she looked through the hallways of the ship, her ship, she dearly hoped that nothing got close enough to make a boarding attempt. Mechanicus forces used all manner of weapons that were deadly to organics, from phosphor weapons to rad weapons, she didn’t relish the prospect of having to defend the bridge from such a foe, and she doubly hoped that any traitor Astartes didn’t manage to board. Even though she had Ogryn Charonite squads, who were quite able to hold their own against even Astartes with their Charonite claws which could tear through ceramite armor plating with ease, she knew that the Astartes were deadly fast and given time could potentially overwhelm the Ogryn.   

Thalia incidentally walked past one of those Ogryn units, their leader smacked his hand into his head in a clumsy imitation of a salute, “Mam.” Thalia returned the salute, albeit with far more finesse, before continuing on her way. She sighed as she pressed the call switch for the elevator. With a low beep, the elevator arrived on the floor, opening its doors as a synthesized voice called out which floor it was on.

Once she had pressed the appropriate deck, the Admiral leaned back against the rear wall of the elevator. Her hands fell to the railing she was leaning on, just above her Volkite Serpenta pistol hanging from a dark brown grox hide holster on her left hip and Charnable saber that hung from its sheath on her right. The Lord Admiral was quite the accomplished duelist, and was just as good as she was back during her academy days where she’d seen off many an opponent

The constant droning of the elevator was a comfort to the Lord Admiral as it continued its path down to the main hangar deck, she reminded herself that it wasn’t that she didn’t like their chances of success, but that she didn’t like their chances of coming out of the mission alive. The elevator slowed to a halt as its doors opened with a hydraulic _hiss_ as a synthesized voice announced the deck it was on.

Stepping out, the Admiral walked down the passageway until she came to the blast door that opened out into the hangar, pressing the activation rune, the blast doors began opening with a _hiss_ , and as soon as they were open wide enough to let her through the Admiral stepped through. As soon as she stepped through, the Admiral could see the ship’s vast compliment of Corsair Void bombers and Saturnyne-pattern Fury Interceptors. Servitors, Enginseers and the maintenance staff of the Imperial Armada gave the craft final checks before the fleet made ready to jump so that on arrival they would be ready to stream out of the hangar into the black void of space, their crew ready to fight and die for the Imperium.

Missile carrying servitor controlled ammunition carts carried missiles to both the fighters and the bombers. The rotary missile racks were lowered down from the underside of the Corsair Void Bombers as heavily muscled, augmented servitors lifted the missiles and loaded them into the rack under the watchful eye of a nearby Enginseer. Another Enginseer and group of accompanying servitors were attaching anti-armor missiles into the bay of a Fury Interceptor, which while far smaller than those being loaded into the Corsair Void Bombers, possessed highly advanced targeting cogitators and advanced thruster systems that allowed them to strike true into enemy craft or point defense turrets on enemy ships.

On the far end, she could make out the forms of Primaris Lightning Strike Fighters, Sunfury missiles being affixed under their wings. Thalia always liked the Voss pattern Lightning, it’s forced-plasma Ramjet gave it great speed even if it didn’t have much armor. It was designed for low fast strikes, to strike and fly off before the enemy even knows what hit them, it’s Ramjet diffusion grid allowing it to evade the detection of even the most powerful of thermal detection measures.

Across from the Lightning Strike Fighter was the Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter, owing its origin to the forge world of Cypra Mundi, and hence was only a later addition to the hangars of the Saturnyne Ordo’s ships. The heavy fighter had been the reason that she’d been able to keep air superiority while the lighter armed Lightnings were re-armed, for if not for the Thunderbolt she knew that enemy fighters would have punished their forces for the temporary lack in air cover. For that reason alone, she was glad for the ungainly looking craft.

As she made her way toward one of the hangar elevators that were ferrying supplies between decks, not wanting to go back to the elevator she came down on, she came across a group of Imperial Armada pilots walking away from their Starhawk bombers before their leader saw her and barked out a crisp, “Officer on deck!” His comrades straightened up and snapped off a salute as well.

Thalia returned the salute, before then letting her hand fall to her side, “At ease.” Instead of just awkwardly walking past the pilots, she decided to make some small talk, a habit she’d maintained throughout her career. It was a good way to get a sense of what the crew was thinking, “You boys ready?”

“Aye ma’am!” said their leader. “Our birds are fueled and ready for us to kick some traitor ass, ma’am.” The ‘ma’am’ was almost hastily added as an afterthought. Unlike Terran fighter jocks, Saturnyne fighter jocks were a lot more informal, and perhaps a little looser, but they always got the job done. It was a pity that many of them would not return from their mission. This was in contrast most of the officers that made up the ranks of the Saturnyne Ordo, who were very ‘prim and proper’. Thalia however, though she was technically of noble birth, her mother wasn’t, and Thalia had trouble getting along with many of the other nobles.

“Good to hear, pilot,” said Thalia, giving them a polite smile seeing as her helmet was clipped to her belt, feeling a sense of camaraderie with these pilots. She remembered feeling and acting much like these pilots when she was that age. However, it had long since been tempered by years of service. “We’ll make these traitors rue the day they decided to turn their backs on the Imperium.”

“Just try and leave some of them alive for us, ma’am,” said the pilot, a broad smile on the man’s face, both out of enthusiasm and to return her own, clearly.

Thalia chuckled at the comment made by the Starhawk pilot for a moment before nodding at him, “Dismissed, pilot.”

The man nodded, “Ma’am.” He then continued on his path out of the hangar. “Come on boys.” The other pilots followed behind their squadron leader. The Admiral continued toward the cargo elevator in the hangar, stepping on just before the preoccupied crewman pressed the button.

“Cutting it a little close crewman,” said Thalia, who’d just made the distance with a quick dash and so she sounded a little more annoyed than she actually was.

“Ma’am!” blurted the crewman who snapped around, not having noticed the Admiral. “Didn’t see you there, ma’am! Sorry, ma’am!” The aforementioned crewman snapped off a nervous and shaky salute.

“Don’t worry about it, crewman,” said the Admiral, then pausing for a minute to catch her breath. “I trust everything is going according to procedure?” Based on the determined work going on in the hangar so far and as she had seen earlier, the Admiral knew that their spirits were strong. Some may have been scared, but they were ready to fight. It was nothing less than she’d come to expect from her crew over the years.

“We’ll make sure our boys are fueled and loaded with ordinance to blow those traitors into the warp,” came the reply. “No matter what happens, we’re ready to serve the Imperium, ma’am.” Thalia didn’t need to listen to the man’s words to see his determination, she could see it in his eyes.

“And the Imperium expects nothing less, crewman,” she replied in return. For many of them, this would be the last fight they’d ever fight, but she knew that they’d make it their best. The crewman nodded, turning his attention back to the dataslate in his hand as he checked the crates of ammunition just ahead of him, lying on their pallets, with the elevator continuing to let out a mechanical groan on its way down.

The elevator eventually came to a stop with a reverberating dull _thud_ , Thalia stepped off, letting the crewman continue with his work as she looked around the hangar. Here, the hangar was filled with transport craft. Arvus Lighters, Saturnyne-pattern Stormbirds and Ursh-pattern Jackal and Prowler gunships all painted with the dull grey paint of the 21st, the black ram of the Saturnyne Rams proudly painted on the side of each craft’s hull, while the Imperial Aquila adorned the wings of each craft.

She paused for another moment to look at the craft before her. Many thought the Stormbird a craft that was used solely by the Legiones Astartes, but what many failed to realize was that the Stormbird was a catch-all term, describing many a pattern of gunship that could full fill the heavy transport role as well. The Saturnyne Ordo had a gunship that fit that bill as well, what the name was earlier she couldn’t quite recall, she’d gotten so used to calling it the Saturnyne-pattern Stormbird that the earlier name had faded from her memory, and she didn’t see the purpose of looking the information up in their database.

The Saturnyne-pattern Raven gunship was a venerable craft, but the fact remained that forges of Ursh produced a better gunship than they had, but it hadn’t taken much to secure a deal with the forge smiths of Ursh. Ursh would produce most of the craft, engines, hull, control surfaces and armor, while the Saturnyne Ordo would produce avionics, weapons, power plant and environmental systems. Parked in rows, both variants of the Ursh produced Saturnyne modified Jackal and Prowler gunships were present. The former used largely as fire support and tactical transport for Hoplite infantry, the latter which was equipped with advanced stealth features was used by the elite Veletaris.

A smile formed on her face as she remembered meeting with Lord Commander Namatjira. They’d agreed on the untapped potential the Jackal had, and how only it’s production costs alone kept it from being a more widely used vehicle. He’d wagered that if not for its smaller sized troop bay it’d have been in service with the Legiones Astartes. Namatjira and Bertie however disagreed on which vehicle between the Scarab and the Dracosan was a better armored vehicle. The two called it a day and agreed to trade a few Scarabs and Dracosans to see how they performed. Namatjira and Bertie were both quite pleased with the other’s vehicles that they ordered enough of each from Terra and Saturn respectively to an entire Mechanized Infantry division.

“Ma’am!” said a voice behind her, and for a moment the Admiral was starting to regret leaving the bridge, while she did stand on formality to an extent, this was getting a little tedious. She then recognized it as the voice of Lieutenant Drakken Dardashti, the leader of her protective detail. “We had to ask Captain Mojaro where you were, didn’t think you’d leave the bridge before we got there.”

Turning around, she smiled at the Lieutenant, “I don’t think that anyone would try something at this point Lieutenant.” The six-man detail of Veletaris were equipped with Volkite Chargers, deadly energy weapons that were capable of tearing apart even the most heavily armored foes, something that they needed now more than ever. Like other Veletaris units he had what many in the Imperial Army called ‘Light Power armor’, only it wasn’t so much power armor as it was servo assisted carapace armor, which served to enhance the deadly capabilities of those that made up the ranks of the elite Veletaris.

“On the contrary, ma’am,” said the Lieutenant, his helmet’s vox-caster distorting his already gravel tone. “I think now’s a time more than ever to be worried about someone trying something.” His tone was serious, and the Lieutenant presented nothing but an inscrutable Saturnyne-pattern Enhanced Void Hardened Carapace Armor helmet, so the Admiral just nodded.

“I may be pushing two hundred, Lieutenant, but I’m not a defenseless old woman,” said Thalia, a smile on her face. “In fact, if I remember correctly, Lieutenant, it was I who beat you in our last duel, was it not?” she asked in her best, ‘little old woman’ voice.

Drakken sighed, “Correct, ma’am. I believe you did win our last duel. Still, playing it safe never hurt anyone, and with respect I believe as head of your protective detail, I reserve the rights to shoot or stab the bastard trying to kill you.” He paused for a moment and then added, “Though Lord Marshall Lissie has quite the claim as well.”

Thalia shook her head, naturally the implication there was that as her husband Bertie naturally would like to ‘run through’ or shoot the ‘blighter’ who dared try and harm his ‘dashing naval officer’. Of course, she’d heard such promises from Bertie before. “Speaking of my husband, Lieutenant, would you happen to have an idea of just where he might be?” asked Thalia.

“I’d look for his Falchion, ma’am,” said Drakken as he nodded at the far end of the hangar where Solar Auxilia tanks were being loaded onto Stormbirds with vehicle carrying provisions for preparation to be launched at a moment’s notice. Squinting, she could just make out the form of a Falchion Super Heavy Tank Destroyer with the added antennas and scanner arrays of a command tank.

“Then I think I know where the good Lord Marshall is,” said Thalia as she walked toward the Super Heavy tank.

**Lord Marshall Bertie Lissie**

Lord Marshall Lissie was supervising the loading of his cohort’s tanks onto the transports. He wanted them to be ready to move the moment the Lord Admiral had cleared enough traitor ships from them to begin their landing. As he watched, he mentally ticked off the vehicle off a list of tanks that his cohort had access to. So far, his Cohorts Stormlord, Stormblade and Baneblade Super Heavy Tanks had been loaded onto the transports. The two other Falchion Super Heavy Tank destroyers were still not loaded however, and that was just for his own Cohort, he’d left the other Cohort Marshall’s to supervise the loading of their own vehicles. After all, he couldn’t babysit everyone, now could he?

The Cohorts’ Falchion Super Heavy Tank Destroyers were their primary anti-titan weapon, armed with twin Volcano cannons they could pose a serious threat to enemy Titans. They had these largely Legiones Astartes equivalent weapons to face off against any potential traitor Titan Legions that they might encounter at the renegade forge world, not to mention heavily defended static positions. While the Stormblade, which was in fair number in the Cohort was also capable of damaging a Titan with its Ryza pattern Plasma Blastgun, it was largely incapable of dropping a Titan’s void shields.

Bertie leaned against the pintle mounted autocannon, the fire selector switch obviously set to safe, as he watched the last of the Stormlord Super Heavy tanks loaded on. This particular one was armed with an extra pair of sponsons, a search light and had a pintle mounted Storm Bolter. The cohorts that made up the 21st Expeditionary’s infantry were very fond of the Stormlord, its large transport hold behind the main gun allowed them to use it a mobile fortress as they advanced up on the enemy, it’s heavy armor weathering all but the most mighty of blows.

The last time he’d truly seen one of them blow up it was when a massive point defense laser had blown it and it’s three escorting Lykaon Cascade tanks. All of the Lykaon variants had been loaded, save for the Lykaon variant which mounted a Jovian-pattern Plasma Carronade, and the last he heard from his Enginseers the plasma coils were giving them issues during sustained firing, and he’d much rather the issue be resolved before the tanks were loaded than for a critical containment field failure to occur while they were fighting the monstrosities of the fallen Mechanicus. 

Thankfully, all the support and artillery weapons as well as the armored personnel carriers had been loaded. The Dracosan Armored Carrier would be the only way the cohort’s infantry would survive to be able to push into traitor lines, it’s thick armor provided defense against radiation and phosphor weapons favored by the Mechanicus.

He couldn’t however, deploy the much longer ranged Mars-Solar pattern Basilisks until their landing zone was secure, but the much more heavily armored Minotaur could very certainly be deployed along with the Rapier weapons platforms.

That was when his eye caught sight of a tank he’d come to hate for the simple fact that the damned rattletrap contraption was a logistics nightmare and a safety hazard to boot. “Vaarsuvius,” he called down into the tank below. “What the devil is that damned rattletrap piece of junk still doing on our ship!? I thought I’d made it quite clear that the eyesore of a logistical nightmare was _not_ to be dropped off on us again!?”

“We could always rig it with explosives and send it right into their lines, sir,” countered Vaarsuvius, remembering his superior officer’s hatred for the Stormhammer Super Heavy Tank. A smile formed on Bertie’s face, after more than a century of serving alongside him, Vaarsuvius knew exactly what he was thinking. Poor chap hadn’t really wanted Rejuvenat treatments, but Bertie had yet to find an officer who could replace him as his second in command, and Vaarsuvius eventually agreed. Seemed that he had that sort of effect on most people in his life. After all, that’s how he got Thalia to finally warm up to the idea.

Movement in the left corner of his eyes however caught his attention, a woman in Solar-pattern Void Hardened Carapace Armor, with rank bars and epaulets of a naval officer. Flanking her on either side were Veletaris from the 21st, Lieutenant Drakken and his squad if he recognized their unit markings correctly. This would mean this was none other than his dear wife. As the group came closer, he could make out her steel grey eyes and her always neatly trimmed hair that framed her features. He remembered back when they’d only just married how he couldn’t stop embarrassing himself by grinning like a school boy every time he saw her, thankfully for them both that was something he had managed to reign in. “Lord Admiral,” he said, addressing her by her rank instead of her first name. “What brings you down to this part of the ship?”

“Did I not send word through Captain Mojaro to tell you that we’re supposed to await the arrival of Archmagos Hypax?” asked the Admiral, half smiling. ‘Oh dear, it would appear you’re in the dog house again, Bertie old boy,’ he thought to himself as he tried coming up with a reasonable excuse. He knew Hypax wouldn’t mind the delay, but it was terribly rude to keep a guest waiting, especially an old friend like Hypax.

“I’m merely waiting productively, my dear Admiral,” replied Bertie with the most charming tone of voice he could muster. She just shook her head, even one hundred years later he was just the same. “The Magos is quite obviously taking his sweet time too, probably doing the same thing I’m doing, organizing the men.” The multitude of Skitarii, Legio Cybernetica Automata, Ordo Reductor tanks and armored vehicles and not to mention the Titans of the Legio Irae couldn’t be the easiest thing to coordinate, then again, Hypax had a knack for this sort of thing. It was probably that combined with his undoubtable loyalty to the Imperium that got him assigned to this operation.  

“Quite right,” said the Lord Admiral, nodding. “Come then, I’m sure given that you’re almost done, he’s probably already on his way here.” Almost as if on cue, she raised her hand to her ear, listening to the transmission coming in on her microbead. “Thank you, Captain.”

“That’s Hypax’s Stormbird coming in then, is it?” asked Bertie as he stepped out onto the side of his tank, tossing the dataslate to his Vaarsuvius who caught it in a display of practiced ease, clearly having gotten used to his tendencies after one hundred years of serving alongside him. “Be down in a jiffy,” added Bertie as he leapt down off the side of the tank, landing just short of the Lord Admiral. Noticing the look she was giving him, he continued on toward the standard designated landing zone with feigned innocence, “Well let’s not keep the man waiting then.”

The two walked toward the middle portion of the hangar, where all newly arrived craft that weren’t a part of the ship’s compliment come in for a landing. “Ready to take a stab at those traitors?” asked Thalia, turning her head in his direction. It was a subject that they’d largely avoided speaking much about before this, brought on by the fact that not only was it not a very pleasant topic as far as conversation topics went and they’d just about only received word two days prior, rather unfortunately interrupting their shore leave.

“Just like old times,” chuckled Bertie, a confident smirk appearing on his face. “You just get me and my men close enough and we’ll make sure that nothing’s standing.” His mind went back to when he’d first said that to her, over one hundred and seventy-two years ago. When he was just a Marshall, and she was a young Captain. The odds were very much against them then as they were now, as they were then. He saw the slightest of smiles form on Thalia’s features, as no doubt her mind was flooded with memories, much as his was. It may be their last fight, but he’d be damned it if wasn’t their best.

As they were talking, a dull black Tempestavex-pattern Stormbird flew into the hangar bar, the noise of its four vectored rocket engines drowning out any hopes of continued conversation. The massive craft looked like a miniature version of the Galleas-class it left, four vectored engines now folding back into the massive wings. The craft’s Heavy Gatling Bolt Cannon mounted on the underside of its sharp beak-like nose twitched from side to side once before the servitor piloted automata craft set down on four landing struts that resembled the legs of a bird more than mechanical struts. The craft’s forward assault ramp lowered with a hiss and atmosphere poured out as the airlock cycled.

Out of the haze of atmospheric gasses two Conqueror-pattern Battle Automata and four Thallax stepped out of the craft. The two Conqueror Battle Automata wielded massive heavy chain blades sized for them in their left ‘hand’ and a massive Volkite Culverin in the right with a Solex-pattern Heavy Lascannon was slung over their left shoulder. Two of the Thallax had Multilasers, rapid firing powerful anti-infantry weapons that could scythe down hordes of infantry, while the other two carried Phased-Plasma Fusils, weapons that Bertie had seen light up the night sky with salvos of deadly energy.

Once his escort had stepped out, Hypax himself stepped out. Forced to be interred within an arcane life-sustaining device following grievous injuries that he sustained during a compliance action, Hypax used a modified Conqueror-pattern Battle Automata as his ‘body’. In one massive arm, Hypax has a deadly Darkfire Cannon. Mounted on the left shoulder is a twin Mauler-pattern Heavy Bolter. In his right hand is a deadly blade that bears resemblance to the Tempest war blade mounted on Castigator-pattern Imperial Knight chassis. The chassis itself is painted in the standard matte black of the Ordo Reductor, with D-07 painted on the right shoulder and just below the right armored knee pad.

Bertie knew that he concealed a lot more underneath the rest of the chassis, but as Hypax had lamented once, they were all ‘sadly various utility tools’ as the reactor ‘didn’t have enough power for all the weapon systems I wanted, and the risk of being consumed by an overloading Darkfire weapon was not appealing’. An ear-to-ear smile formed on both Thalia and his face as they saw Hypax. “Archmagos Hypax,” said Thalia with a respectful bow. “Good to see that you could join us.”

 

 

“It is only fitting, my friends, that we are assigned to this operation together,” intoned Hypax in his monotone vox-distorted voice that was off-putting to many. Not to the two of them however, and the two of them however were long past the point where such trivial things mattered to them. Hypax was their friend, and they weren’t going to let this get in the way of their friendship.

“Shall we continue this conversation elsewhere?” asked Thalia. “Somewhere where we can discuss this in more detail?” The hangar wasn’t exactly a briefing room and didn’t exactly offer the facilities of a full-fledged briefing room.

“Of course,” said Hypax, before adding a moment later, “though maybe this time keep the fine china away from me. I understand the Lord Primarchs’ problem now, everything seems terribly fragile when you get to this size.” Hypax was just about as large as some of the Primarchs, not nearly as tall as the taller of them, but at the same time somewhat taller than the shorter of them.

Thalia led the way to the briefing room, which wasn’t far from the hangar, thanks to the sensible design of the ship. As soon as they entered the briefing room, Bertie’s eyes immediately fell on three individuals, two men and one woman. Two of them, one of the men and the woman were clad in a black form fitting body glove. The man had a load bearing harness on which were various different large caliber rounds and magazines. His face was hidden by a mask, which had red lenses in place of eyes and was of a mostly dull metal construction. The man was tall too, easily around six and a third foot tall. It was only after processing the rest of his appearance did he notice the rifle, that was easily almost as long as the man was tall, slung across his back.

The woman was lithe, and her body glove left very little to the imagination. Bertie reminded himself that she was more than trained to use the various weapons on her person and didn’t doubt that she had several concealed weapons on her person as well. There were three daggers strapped to her right thigh, no doubt for easy access. Hanging from her belt on the left side was a strange pistol of some kind, it’s barrel was a transparent section with some sort of green glow contained within, and on her right, was a metal gauntlet of some sort. Both had what was presumably power cables going up toward her back.

The final man was clad in a long brown robe, and unlike his two comrades, Bertie could see his face.  He wasn’t much shorter than the sniper, only about two inches if he was to guess. The man had dark skin, and he could clearly make out a stubble on the man’s face under his hood, which was drawn. A lit Lho-stick stuck out from his mouth. His right hand had a simple black fingerless combat gloves, while his left had a very complicated looking gauntlet mounted device that was displaying a hololithic display pane. As the man tapped at the display with his right hand, his cloak flowed back enough to reveal a Ikanos pattern Bolt Pistol with a sound and flash suppressor attached.

To Bertie, and from the look on his friend’s face, to Thalia as well, it was quite obvious who they were. These were clearly Imperial Throne Agents of some kind. A moment after they had stepped into the room, the hooded man look up from his display, “Ah, Lord Admiral, Lord Marshall, Archmagos,” he said nodding at each of them after removing the Lho-stick from his mouth and extinguishing it against the chest plate of carapace armor he wore. “Operative Arold,” he said. “My colleagues and I were dispatched to assist you.”

The plan of attack had already been made, but the three commanders wanted to go over them once more. “Understood Operative Arold, your assistance is most appreciated,” said Lord Admiral Parrington. When it came to assistance from Terra itself, such as the three Throne Agents now standing in front of them, it was better not to ask too many questions. Any at all if you knew what was best for you, and Thalia was perceptive enough to know better than to do so.

Thalia began working the controls of the holotable at the center of the room before the cloak clad Throne Agent spoke up. “Allow me,” said Operative Arold as he tapped and swiped at the hololithic panes projected by his gauntlet before a map of the forge world appeared on the holotable. “There.”

“Thank you,” said the Lord Admiral as she gestured to the lines of defense stations and the defense monitors clustered around them. The Mechanicus defense monitors Bertie noted, were not that different from the ones used by the Imperialis Armada. Frigate sized craft with weapons batteries and lance weapons, but where the difference lay was that the Mechanicus variants were clearly automated to a far larger degree. Just ahead of the planet, a fairly large fleet of Mechanicus Cruisers and Light Cruisers was present. “Once we’ve arrived in the system, our fleets will open up with a Nova Cannon and Torpedo barrage. The objective is to cripple much of the traitor fleet while our fleet moves into optimal weapons range. At that point, massed lance and weapon battery fire will provide covering fire for our Avenger-class Grand Cruisers to move in and break a hole in the enemy’s lines, and then keep that hole open while the rest of the fleet moves in and finishes the remnants of the traitors.”

As the Lord Admiral spoke, the actions she described were displayed in holographic form. “It is then, that we will begin our next objective. We will deploy a diversionary attack using the bulk of our forces to draw the traitors out. The home field advantage should make them overconfident, as should the defense guns and void shield generators placed around their main forges. While the bulk of our forces are engaged, a team comprised of Operative Arold and his colleagues, as well as Sicarian Infiltrators and a Veletaris unit will infiltrate and disable the void shield generator, allowing our ships to bombard the defense guns from long range, allowing an armored push to damage enough of the main forge till one of our ships can get within orbital strike range to finish the job. From there, after assessing the situation, we’ll move on to our secondary objectives.”

“Sounds as good a plan as any,” said Bertie, nodding as he considered the places it could go wrong, such as if the infiltration team were to fail. But they didn’t have much choices, the defense guns in place were strong enough to take on Titans, including some of the larger more powerful Titans in the Legio Irae. If they could take on Titans, they would have no problems in dealing with his tanks. The current plan was the best and quite honestly one of their only choices. After that, it was clockwork, they had more than enough forces to hold the traitor garrison and he was confident that portion of the plan would surely hold.

“The wrath of the Omnissiah will be poured out in full measure on these traitors,” said Hypax as he studied the map in front of him. “We are ready,” he said, then with the mechanical whirring of servos he glanced at his two old friends before adding, “as we’ll ever be.”  

“As is the 21st,” said Bertie proudly. “We’ll deliver the judgment of Terra to those traitors.” Interestingly enough, the three throne agents did not say anything.

The Lord Admiral also, did not look for an answer from them either, “Then it is settled, I leave you to return to your men. I must begin our final preparations before we make the jump.”

With that, all the room’s occupants departed their own ways, to ready themselves and their men for what must be done. As she was leaving, Bertie caught Thalia’s attention and mouthed, ‘Be careful’. To which she mouthed back, ‘You as well.’

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov**

It had never been done before, three different assassins of three different clades all working together. Three different clades that could be no more different from each other at that. The Vanus, that preferred to wield information as a weapon and have others make the kill in their stead. Callidus, masters and infiltration and subterfuge, their shape shifting operatives able to take on any identity, and certainly some of the galaxy’s most capable close quarters combatants who while certainly not as strong as an Astartes were certainly much more agile and dexterous. Then there was Meyek’s own Clade, Vindicare, easily the best marksmen in the entirety of the Imperium. Every part of their equipment tailored for the job, their weapons, their mind and even their body.

This however, was no cooperation between Clades. Ranked at Epsilon-Dan, Meyek knew all too well about how each Clade were always trying to justify their own existence, sometimes over the others. This would not happen until they were truly desperate, concluded Meyek. No, what had happened between Meghann, Ray and himself was between three people who saw no more reason to not work together when their own lives and quite possibly the safety of the Imperium was at stake.

Of course, it wasn’t nearly as easy as that, and it took a while and some long tense moments of staring down each other’s weapons to come to an agreement.

**_One hour earlier, storage bay H-01B_ **

The storage bays near the main hangar were a fantastic place to hide if you didn’t want to be seen by a ship’s crew. Prior to leaving for a combat mission, they’ve already moved the spares that they need from the storage to a more easily accessible temporary parts store in the hangars themselves. But of course, if you were unlucky enough to still be there during a combat situation, and doubly unlucky enough for there to be a need for parts not taken out earlier, then you were in trouble.

But then again, If you were this unlucky, then you really shouldn’t be an assassin in the first place. Because no matter what people told you, assassination required a certain degree of luck as well. While training, skill, preparation and the right equipment offset this degree, it never removed it altogether. After all, there was never a way to account for every single factor in a mission.

This, was one of those times. It had never been mentioned to the veteran assassin that there would be other operatives from the Officio Assassinorum here. Yet, here was, looking at the lithe form of what was clearly a Callidus Assassin. Meyek recognized her war gear the moment he laid eyes on her. Meyek had one job, to help the other forces of the Imperium destroy or disable the void shield generator protecting the facility, and preventing the use of orbital bombardment in destroying the defense cannons that prevented the Titans and Super Heavy Tanks from moving in on the planet’s primary forge.

If Meyek was paid, he’d bet that this was what her objectives were too. Many plans ran through his mind as he stood on a stack of large containers, hiding in the room’s shadows. His stealth suit already rendered him invisible, but you could never be too careful. He continued to look at the woman through his Exitus rifle’s scope. His spy mask analyzing the target, telling him that the quickest way to kill her would be to put a bullet in her brain.

As he was considering what to do, he heard a little squeak and noticed a little rodent scurrying about just ahead of him. It looked like maybe this storage room needed a better looking through, which was funny, because this was one of the better storage rooms that he’d been on as far as Imperialis Armada ships were concerned. He finally made his decision and with his crosshairs settled over her head, he opened a vox channel to her mask’s receiver, “So, it’s an awfully crowded cargo bay, isn’t it?”

“I knew I was not alone,” said the Callidus as she got to her feet quickly, beginning to move around the room, seemingly in search of him. She also seemed to catch on that he was a fellow assassin very quickly, after all, only an assassin could stalk another assassin. She wasn’t dead, which meant that in her mind he was either a fool or not an enemy, yet, “Given that I am the only Clade Callidus operative on this mission, it means that you are likely one of those Vindicares, hiding behind your rifle scope.”

“That’s me,” said Meyek over the vox back as he watched her walk behind another set of containers. His auspex losing track of just where she was. “Any chance you want to tell my why you’re here?” he asked tentatively, knowing that he was probably not going to get an answer.

There was a perceptible pause on the other end, “You are joking…” said the other operative, Meyek could tell that there was almost a hope that he was.

“If you tell me what you’re here for, I’ll tell you what I’m here for, and we can avoid stepping on each other’s toes,” offered Meyek. There was no response for a good minute or so before Meyek began to get concerned, and so it turned out, for good reason. His auspex scanner picked up something moving behind him and he barely managed to roll forward and away as a scary looking blade _whooshed_ over his head, the sound it made was so subtle that if he didn’t have his spy mask on he wouldn’t have noticed it.

As he came out of the roll, he brought his rifle up and pointed it at the Callidus assassin standing just ahead of him. “Is this what you do to everyone you meet? Try to eviscerate them?”

“It would have merely temporarily crippled you if you had stood still,” said the Callidus, as if that was why he should have stood perfectly still. Meyek however knew enough about human anatomy to know that she was taking into account his enhanced physiology, a ‘regular’ human would most certainly be _permanently_ crippled.

“Yeah, I’ll pass on being crippled. Temporarily or permanently, not really into that sorta thing,” returned Meyek, sarcasm dripping from every word.

“Do not test me Vindicare, were you sent to eliminate me?” she asked, clearly confused about why the both of them were there. Given the schism taking place in the Imperium right now, with the Warmaster’s cronies everywhere, he couldn’t quite blame her for considering the very distinct possibility that he had forsaken the Imperium and turned his back on his brothers and sisters in the Assassinorum.

“Eliminate you?” asked Meyek, scoffing. “Don’t flatter yourself, I had no idea you were going to be here until I saw you in the cargo bay!” he spat back.

She snarled at him, ready to slice his weapon in two with the long blade coming from her gauntlet. But that was when the both of them heard a voice in their earpieces, “How about the two of you try and _not_ murder each other?” The voice was deep and firm, but at the same time, gentle.

“I’m good with not being murdered,” answered Meyek back. “But uh, who is this?” he asked, wondering who was this now. He had an idea of who it could be, but he wasn’t sure. Plus, that might just make the situation even more complicated.

“Down here,” said the voice over the vox once more. Casting a glance at the Callidus to see if she would try and attack if his attention was turned elsewhere even for a fraction of a second. But he could see she had relaxed her stance, if only slightly. Looking over the side of the container, he could see a man in a long brown robe. On his left hand was a cogitator gauntlet, and in his left was a sound suppressed Ikanos pattern Bolt Pistol. What was stranger, was the psyber-eagle sitting perfectly still and quiet on his shoulder. The man’s hood was drawn back, and so Meyek could see his brown eyes, dark skin and shaven head. “Clade Vanus operative Raynod Arold, but you guys can just call me ‘Ray.’ Now just hear me out here. This mission isn’t going to be easy, and we’re all on the same team here. We all have our objectives, but if we helped each other out, then there’s a higher chance we actually get the job done.” 

The man paused to let that sink in. Meyek had to admit, it actually made perfect sense. He was perfectly up for this. “Now,” continued Ray. “I’m fine with leaving the two of you to continue trying to kill each other. But that’d be a waste, and I’d very much like the both of you alive. You have the tactical skills I need to reach my objective. I have the…other skills…required to make sure you have all the mission data you need.”

Meyek nodded slowly to himself, but in reality, he was in, “Alright Ray,” he said. “I’m in.”

“Excellent,” said Ray nodding to himself, then turning to Meghann as Meyek did the same. It was down to her now.

“Your offer is acceptable,” said Meghann nodding as well, although hers were faster yet still very fluid motions in comparisons to Meyek’s.

“Awesome,” said Ray, a broad smile forming on his face. “Do you want to introduce yourselves? If you don’t, I’ll do it for you. I already know who you are.”

Meyek and Meghann shared a look, but then again, Clade Vanus kept tabs on just about everyone and everything in the Imperium. They probably knew how many sugars the Sigilite had in his morning recaf. Seeing that the Callidus didn’t look like she was going to say anything, Meyek waved rather animatedly at the both of them with his left hand after raising his mask, the Exitus rifle’s barrel resting on his knee. “Meyek Maximov, Clade Vindicare.” While his identity didn’t exist, it was the ultimate sign of trust between assassins.

“Meghann Lestourgen,” replied the Callidus, pausing for a moment before she pulled off her mask. What he saw took Meyek’s breath away for the briefest of moments. Silky brown hair neatly tied into a ponytail fell free of the mask, reaching just below her shoulder blades. Very distinctly feminine features, notably a pair of green eyes studied both men as she added, “Clade Callidus.”

“And this is Bloodwing,” said Ray, gesturing to his psyber-eagle. “Now that we’re all acquainted, how about we all gather our gear from wherever it’s been stashed. I found us a better room than this cargo bay.” Meyek smiled as both he and Meghann went off to get their gear.

**_Present time_ **

 As they entered the room, Bloodwing _cawed_ at Ray, who walked over and stroked him once, “No, I didn’t bring anything for ya Blood.”

“Aww,” said Meyek as he approached Bloodwing, not having done so before as the bird had been perched on Ray’s shoulder. “Who’s a cute little birdie?” asked the Vindicare as he reached out to scratch the bird under his chin.

Ray, tapped at one of the hololithic panes projected by his gauntlet, causing the door to shut after Meghann entered the room. “He’ll take your finger off,” he said without even looking up.

Meyek immediately withdrew his finger, “Oh-kay then. Maybe not.” He then looked from Ray to Meghann, “So we playing the waiting game now?”

“Not for much longer,” answered Ray. “According to what I can see, the Lord Admiral has the crew making last minute pre-jump checks.”

Meyek settled down on a crate in the room, leaning back as he thought about what had happened and what was about to happen, then letting out a quiet, “Exitus Acta Probat.” Because in the end, the end was all that justified the deed.

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

“All pre-jump preparations complete Lord Admiral,” said Captain Mojaro as she walked back onto the bridge. They walked beside each other toward her command throne. “All ships reporting in. The Navigators have charted the fastest course.” This was it, there was no turning back. They would either crush the foes of the Imperium, or die far from home at the hands of traitors. “We’re just waiting on your word.”

Thalia sat herself down in the command throne, “Thank you Captain,” she said nodding as she keyed the transmit key on her throne, which patched her in to the whole fleet. “All ships, this is Lord Admiral Parrington. Execute Warp jump. Repeat, execute Warp jump.” She then clicked on the ship wide intercom, “Crew, this is Admiral Parrington, all hands prepare for Warp jump.” She then watched as a swirling hole in the fabric of material space opened up ahead of her ship and the ship was pulled inside alongside every other in the fleet.

Before long, the black void of space was replaced with the swirling purple of the immaterium, or the Warp. All around his ship could be all sorts of warp entities, trying to devour his crew and the others embarked on his ship, but the ship’s powerful Gellar fields kept them exactly where they were, outside. “Charge Nova cannon capacitors, load the bombardment cannons and warm the laser and plasma batteries, I want the fleet to be ready to engage the moment we drop out of the warp.”

**_Twenty standard Terran Days later_ **

It had been twenty days, twenty long days since they’d entered the warp. The Navigator had informed her that he’d lost his ability to guide the ship through the currents of the warp, that where and when they would arrive was out of his control. But ships entering the Warp and never leaving was not unheard of, but it was always something that you heard about happening, and certainly not something that even in her most terrible nightmares had Thalia even imagined this happening to her.

With some of the best navigational technology available to the Imperium, with some of the best crew in the Imperial Armada, there was nothing that she could do. However, she and Captain Mojaro had kept the crew busy. It was better that they didn’t have too much time to think about it. The unfortunate truth was, that as much as she’d tried to keep herself busy, she still couldn’t stop thinking about it. Thinking about how long they were going to be stuck in the Warp, how long, if they would ever leave and if they would hear from some of their comrades ever again.

A total of fourteen ships of the Imperial Armada were gone, all communications ceased and never to be heard of since. Sixteen Warder-class Saturnyne-pattern Escorts and twelve Onager-class Saturnyne-pattern Siege Frigates. The loss was devastating to even think of. That many lives quite possibly simply snuffed out. The loss of the ships was one thing, but the crew was another. One thing was to give your lives in battle, in the name of the Imperium, but like this? No, this was no way to go.

Archmagos Hypax and his Mechanicus forces had thankfully managed to retain communications, and with Lord Marshall Bertie on the ship it meant that he was alive too. She and Bertie had discussed the situation, it had occurred to both of them that with their assault delayed this long, if they did drop out, the traitors would have no doubt received word and would have bolstered their defenses. They both had no illusions about the fact that there were likely traitors within the Imperium who had yet to reveal themselves.

Admiral Parrington sighed as she wiped the water from her face, she had been woken up because apparently their Navigator had some very good news, news that had most of the ship quite literally bubbling with excitement. There was also a clear air of nervousness; it would seem that they were due to drop out of the warp soon. She checked her armor for any faults as she attached her sword to her belt and dropped her Volkite Serpenta into its holster. Brushing a stray strand of hair out of the way, she began to make her way back toward the bridge.

As the Lord Admiral arrived on the bridge, she could see all the crewmen attending to their stations with a renewed diligence than what she’d seen over the last twenty days, which was still no means below what was expected of them. Clearly, the fact that they were finally leaving this hellish dimension had given then a renewed burst of resolve. Noticing her arrival, Captain Mojaro turned and walked over to her, “Ma’am, all ships that we still have contact with have carried out your previous orders. Navigator Caelan wanted me to tell you that we’re about to drop about, he says give it anywhere between five and twenty minutes.”

Thalia’s eyes wandered over to where the Navigator was connected into the ship via cables going into the back of his shaved head, his third ‘eye’ on his forehead was very much open and glowing, but his two physicals eyes were slammed shut. Clearly the man was on the edge of his wits and physical abilities. Of course had she looked directly into his ‘third’ eye without it being covered by the headdress that connected him into the ship, she’d have gone insane for sure. “Has he said anything else?” asked the Admiral as she turned away from the Navigator.

“No ma’am, that’s all he’s said,” said Captain Mojaro. Thalia nodded as she walked toward the fore end of the ship’s bridge, she didn’t feel like sitting down right now. Mojaro followed behind her, waiting a moment before she spoke, “What do you think we’re going to find when we drop out, ma’am?”

As she looked at the swirling purple currents of the Immaterium, the Lord Admiral was faced with one undeniable truth; that she had no idea whatsoever. She was about to answer when he heard she heard Caelan painfully croak out, “Prepare.” And just like that, the ship was dropped back into real space, back into the materium, all of the survivors in the same perfect formation that they’d left in.

However, what lay of them wasn’t a forge world. There were no defense stations or automated defense monitors. There was no defense fleet, no advanced weaponry or all manner of machines ‘waking’ to render their vessels into cosmic dust. Just a single planet that lay ahead of them, orbiting the star that was to the rear of their vessels. From on the ship, she could make out patches of blue and green, but it was largely red brown. She speculated that maybe, it had breathable atmosphere, but didn’t want to take anything for granted.

 The Lord Admiral’s crew were just as shocked as she was, but that didn’t stop them from carrying out their duties. The Admiral watched various stations as the ships auger arrays and various pict-recorders probed out into the planet ahead and the space around it.

“Admiral,” droned out Tech-Priest Severin, his cybernetics allowing him to receive information from the ship’s systems almost instantaneously. “Auger arrays indicate that the planet has breathable atmosphere, and its average temperature is as of expected of a civilized world. Thermal scans indicate that there are no signs of civilization.”

“What planet is this?” asked the Lord Admiral, trying to figure just where In the galaxy they’d landed up at. “Are we on a charted Imperial World?” The possibility that they’d moved beyond the known areas of Imperial space had occurred to her, but the crusades had stretched far and wide, reuniting most of the planets that used to be part of mankind’s galaxy stretching civilization.      

Severin paused for a minute, then finally said, “There is an anomaly.” His head looked up from the Auger scanner station that he didn’t really need to look at and up at the Admiral, “According to the charts, this is the planet Molov, of the Segmentum Ultima. Molov however, is an industrialized world, with a large population.”

“And this planet is uninhabited, no human life,” said Admiral Parrington, realization dawning on her at last. “But if this is Molov…what happened?” No part of Thalia’s brain was able to wrap around what she was faced with. How could this be Molov, but at the same time be nothing like the Molov they knew? What sort of Warp trickery was this?

“Ma’am,” said one of the crewman as they checked their station. “We’re detecting no Warp jumps in the area, nor are there residual traces of a Warp jump. If someone’s ever been here, it hasn’t been for a long time.” That was something that just added to his confusion, not clearing it up any more.

Admiral Thalia activated her microbead, patching him to Caelan, who was on the far end of the bridge quite far away from where he was right now. “Caelan…give me some good news.” She really hoped the Navigator would find something that would give him a more concrete idea of what was going on here.

“Lord Admiral, I have lost sight of the Astronomicon…” replied Caelan, panic creeping into the Navigator’s voice. He said nothing more, clearly desperately trying to use his psychic abilities to find some portion of the Astronomicon’s light. She didn’t purport to know what it was like to have such mutations, but she did know that without the Astronomicon, there was no chance of a Navigator finding their way through the tumultuous warp storms that were raging through the Immaterium. “But…the Warp is oddly calm, there is no interference, no storms…”

The Lord Admiral was about to say something, questioning why that might even be when one of the auger system operators spoke up, “Ma’am! Unknown vessel coming around the planet now! Emissions not detected, but the auger sensors picked up its movement.” Finally. An unknown vessel was the best news that she could have gotten. This, she knew what to do with. Hopefully, whoever they are, they would have some answers.

“Both its thermal signature and its size make it too small to be a manned craft,” said Captain Mojaro as she looked at the data readout. An automated craft? This craft had done the opposite of what she’d hoped it would, it raised more questions than it answered.

“Not only that, ma’am, it’s mass reading is near impossible even for something of that size,” said the crewman who had spoken earlier. He then looked up at the Admiral’s face, which was frowning in confusion and deliberation.

“Launch fighters,” said Thalia finally after thinking for a while. Since it was automated, trying to communicate with it would be useless. “Disable it and bring it aboard. We’ll see just what this thing is.” Before very long, the Admiral was watching three Saturnyne-pattern Fury Interceptors streak past the bridge viewport as they flew toward the craft out in the distance, not visible from the bridge.

“Void Eagle lead to _Fist of Judgment_ ,” came the voice of the pilot over the bridge speakers. Target is in sight, lascannons warmed and ready, approaching firing range now.” Everyone on the bridge was silent as they waited for the pilot’s response, the beeping and whirring of cogitators was the only sound that could be heard. “Target disabled! Repeat, target is disabled! Void Eagle lead returning to hangar, you can send in the transports, ma’am.” With a sense of triumph, the bridge crew returned to work, congratulating each other and the pilots, they were never really worried about losing their pilots, but were silently worried about the ship having some sort of advanced defensive measures. Admiral Parrington smiled, things were going well, now they’d find out just what in the name of the Throne was going on.

**_Salarian STG Base, undisclosed location_ **

Corporal Jegik Reral watched his station with as much interest as he could muster, but really he’d been assigned to the most boring systems in the entire galaxy. The STG had always seen fit to put drones in every system, even the uninhabited ones, but Jegik was wondering who he’d pissed off to get this posting. He’d been accepted with fantastic marks. Sure, he didn’t have the experience the others did, but when the system did most of it for you, what kind of factor was experience?

The drone was completing its movement around the sole planet in the Phaeron system of the Celestial Abyss. Increased gravitational and other strange readings that seemed to linger in the area almost caught his attention, but he dismissed it as the probe’s finely tuned sensors malfunctioning again, they were known to do that momentarily, especially the older model deployed in largely unimportant areas of space like this.

But the moment the drone came around the planet, Jegik nearly fell right out of his seat. The drone’s systems showed him several impossibly large ships, twenty-three if the drone was to be believed. For a moment, he thought it was some idiot playing a trick on him, hacking his console, but a quick system checked shot that theory down. One of those ships was over twenty kilometers long, dwarfing even a Quarian flotilla liveship. It was just shy of half the length of the Citadel! Another ship was just as wide as the other was long, and reminded Jegik of some of the predatory avians on Sur’kesh. The energy readings coming from the all the ships was beyond terrifying, he could only imagine what they were powering.

Jegik was a little too stunned to react, something that he’d grow to regret later. He watched as three smaller craft flew toward the drone, he didn’t even manage to get a mass reading but their massive engines were certainly unlike anything he’d ever seen and they were bulky and to his eyes quite unsightly, even compared to Krogan ships. But if what he thought were weapons were indeed weapons, they were heavily armed.

There was a huge energy spike, and suddenly his screen was filled with static, his eyes barely catching the last transmissions of the three unknown ships discharging brilliant blue beams from what were now obviously weapons mounted on their wingtips. After staring at his display, and even replaying the last transmission one more time he turned his head around slightly, “Lieutenant Filorn! I think there is something you need to see.”

“What is it Corporal?” asked the Lieutenant, Jegik did his job without complaint despite his reservations so his Lieutenant knew that if he was calling him over it had to be important. Once the Lieutenant stood behind his chair, he wordlessly played the transmission and watched as the expression on the Lieutenant’s face changed from piqued interest to that of horror.

The Lieutenant could only muster enough courage to utter four words it would seem, “Get me STG command.”

**So that’s that. Please feel free to review or PM me with any questions or comments. Hope you enjoyed this. I went through great measures to try and make sure I kept everything as accurate as possible.**

**I had to take several liberties here, and given the room given to writers in Horus Hersey I decided to make the most of it.**

**So as part of a visual reference guide I’m going to add the following:**

**Saturnyne-pattern Fury Interceptor – Retaliator Bomber, Star Citizen**

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**Corsair Void Bomber –  Aegis Hammerhead, Star Citizen**

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**Saturnyne-pattern Stormbird Heavy Gunship –  Redeemer Gunship, Star Citizen**

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**Ursh-pattern Raven/Prowler Gunship (Vanguard Hoplite, Star Citizen)**

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**Lykaon variants (Black Eagle tank with different main gun(s)/sponson weapons)**

**I will also be using/basing a few vehicles off of the Solar Auxilia and Ordo Reductor vehicles from the<http://the-manufactorum.blogspot.com/> which you guys should totally check out if you haven’t already**

**Till next time…**

 


	2. Contact

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

Lord Admiral Parrington walked across the hangar in perfect step with her detail. The Enginseers were already working on the craft, which was at the moment surrounded by a squad of Hoplites. The Lord Marshall was present as well, standing a few steps ahead of the ring of his men, clad in his Saturnyne-pattern Enhanced Void Hardened Carapace Armor, the force field generator integrated into it visible from where she stood.

For as long as she had known Bertie, she knew him to be someone who cared for appearances. Despite being very practical, his combat gear still very much added to his appearance. The weapons he carried too were indicative of just how he fought. While she wasn’t a particularly good shot, Bertie’s ranged combat abilities ended at the last meter that his Inferno Pistol's beam remains effective. The deadly power weapon that was the Paragon Blade that was passed down through his family remained in its silver scabbard.

Thalia had to admit, it was a beautiful and deadly weapon, and she’d complimented him about it many a time.

He turned however, as he heard her approach, “Rather fancy shooting from your pilots. I really must commend them.” He nodded at the four neat holes the lascannons made near the engines.

“Did we learn anything from the craft?” asked the Lord Admiral, hoping for any sort of good news about where in the name of Terra they were.

“Not as far as I know,” said Lord Marshall Lissie, shrugging, an action that Thalia wouldn’t have got if it wasn’t especially exaggerated for that express purpose.

“Well I hope the Enginseers have found something for us,” said Thalia, subtly hinting for the lead Enginseer to tell her everything that they’d found so far.

Thankfully, the Enginseer did take the hint and turned toward them, “Lord Admiral, we have examined the craft and have come to many conclusions.” Examined wasn’t exactly the best word to describe it; several parts of it had been sliced clean off, giving the craft an almost dissected look. It was unknown tech, and the Enginseers didn’t see doing so as an affront to the Machine God. “The engines are an unknown pattern; it does not match any known patterns, xenos or Imperium. Communications, sensors also do not match known patterns. Additionally, we have removed another unknown device for study. Archmagos Hypax has sent a transport to pick it up.”

“So, we know nothing, except that for some reason everything on the surface of Molov has vanished and that there was an unknown automata operating in the system using unknown technology, possibly of xenos origin,” said Thalia, voice sounding exasperated at the complete and utter lack of any and all useful information.

“It is foul tech, Lord Admiral,” added the Enginseer. “An affront to the Machine God, however Archmagos Hypax wishes to study it for weaknesses.” The monotone response didn’t make it clear whether the Enginseer supported the Magos’ decision or not, and frankly Thalia was inclined to take Hypax’s side in this. This was a technology that they knew nothing about, that was found above a planet that they _should_ be considering friendly space. Simply destroying it as an ‘affront to the Machine God’ was erring on the side of stupidity simply for the sake of blindly following dogma.

The Lord Admiral nodded, “Understood, I’ll leave this in your capable hands then.” She turned around and walked closer to Bertie, letting out a tired sigh once he was within earshot. “Once again, we have more questions than we have answers.”

“Well, that’s just fantastic isn’t it then?” asked Bertie, a sigh escaping his lips as well. “Did we at least manage to get the data off of its communications systems?”

“An excellent question,” answered Thalia, “but one I have no answer to. I don’t believe they even tried.” She knew Bertie was in earshot for the last conversation, and so didn’t bother repeating that Hypax planned on examining the wreck.

“Why am I not surprised?” muttered Bertie as he cast a sideways glance at the Enginseers, his helmet attached to his helmet via mag clamp, and so allowing Thalia to see the glance quite clearly. No matter how integral the Mechanicus was to the Imperium, many did not appreciate their strange methods and ideals, but tolerated it for the former reason; they were just that integral to the functioning of the Imperium. Normally, the Tech-Adepts of Saturn were less dogmatic, but given what had happened over the last couple of days, Thalia couldn’t entirely fault them for clinging to what they knew for sure.

That was when an idea suddenly flashed into her mind, she remembered the Throne Agent she’d seen earlier, the one with the gauntlet mounted cogitator. “You wouldn’t happen to know where those Throne Agents are, would you dear?” she whispered just loud enough for Bertie to hear her.

Before Bertie could even answer, a voice that distinctly belonged to the aforementioned Throne Agent crackled in her ears, “Can I help you with something Lord Admiral, Lord Marshall?” he asked, his voice perfectly calm. “Before you ask, behind you, look at the wreck very carefully.” Both of them did as they were told, subtly turning around. Squinting, she could barely make out what looked to be several small insects hovering near one of the openings.

“So I see, Operative Arold,” she said, turning around equally slowly. “I don’t suppose you managed to get any data off the craft?” she asked hopefully, but ready to hear just the opposite.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” came operative Arold’s reply over the vox, a moment later she could then hear a sigh on the other end. “But deciphering it? That’s not going to be easy. Or even possible. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

This was making less and less sense as more information came to light, when really it should have been doing the exact opposite. “Give it your best attempt Operative, that data is the only thing left to give some idea of just where we are,” she said hopefully.

There was a pause on the other end before the operative spoke again, “No guarantees.” The line then went dead.

Thalia knew one thing however, whoever was in control of the automata that they had just disabled and now dismantled, would clearly come looking for it at some point. Given that it was deployed on its own, she could surmise that it was being used to monitor the system. “Whoever built this thing is bound to come looking,” she said as she turned toward Bertie, “I’m putting the fleet on alert.”

“Seems like the only thing left to do,” said Bertie, nodding thoughtfully. “Perhaps my men and I can see if we can capture one of them.” The serious look on his face told Thalia that he wasn’t joking and was actually considering it. Then again knowing him for as long as she did, he often did have ideas that seemingly lacked any sane thought to them as the one he had just mentioned. It wasn’t a particularly _bad_ idea, but one that would only work if they got in close enough range to deploy the Shark Assault Boats.

“That’s only if they get in close enough, dear” she reminded him. “I wouldn’t want to risk the lives of you or any of your men in such a maneuver unless the chances for success were extremely high.”

“And I’d normally tell you that we both swore an oath of service to the Emperor and the Imperium, one that supersedes those we swore to each other, but I’m not even sure _what_ we’d be fighting. He paused, as if not sure whether to voice the thought on the tip of his tongue or not. “Or if there is even an Imperium anymore,” said Bertie, snorting as he finished his statement at just how ludicrous it all sounded.

“What are you talking about?” asked Thalia quickly, almost reactively, a frown forming on her face. “Are you saying that we...” she trailed off, there were ships that had departed from their destinations only to show up years later and in entirely different systems, but it wasn’t something that was common enough for it to become a real concern, especially not with the skilled Navigators employed by the Imperial Armada. “The lack of traitor ships makes what you’re implying a distinct impossibility.”

“None of this makes any sense,” replied Bertie, shaking his head in frustration at it all. The Admiral empathized with her husband, but they could ill afford to waste time speculating now, not until they had some more evidence.

“Let’s deal with it as more information presents itself,” said Thalia as she put a comforting hand on the shoulder pauldron of his armor. “Getting back to our duties should take our mind off it. If we’re both around by the end of the day, I think we’ll have earned some time off.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Bertie as he turned to his men and barked, “Alright men, back to your patrol. If it hasn’t done anything by now, I very much doubt it will ever do something.” This of course, wasn’t an open invitation for them to shoot at it, but instead get back to their regular patrol routes.

She watched as the Bertie and the Tercio turned and walk away before she turned around and began heading in the direction of the bridge. Their quick pace meant that they reached the airlock that sealed off the hangar from the rest of the ship before very long. “Ma’am,” said Lieutenant Dardashti, snapping her out of his thoughts. “You think we’ll manage to deal with whatever comes looking for that thing?” he asked, gesturing with his thumb back in the direction of the wrecked automata.

It was a short walk to the elevator, which mercifully was already on the lower hangar deck. She then pressed the button beside the elevator, causing the door to open for them. “There is one thing that I do know Lieutenant, it’s that we have a lot of firepower, and I certainly plan on using it,” said Thalia as they stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind them with a _hiss_.

**STG Command, Sur-Kesh**

Major Jepern Sulan did certainly not believe the few brief seconds of footage that was being played in front of him. The few seconds had shown ships that were impossibly large, even the ones that hunted down the drone didn’t make any sense to him. Then there was the matter of how the craft managed to disable the drone without even triggering the barriers. The kinetic barrier projectors, even on the older model of spy drone were more than sufficient to handle the occasional raider, even if they were discovered.

Jepern paused the video; its current frame was right before the unknown ship discharged its weapons. The craft based on analysis and data from the drone before it’s destruction was sixty-nine point five meters long, but yet it seemed to be acting like a fighter craft. Then again, the largest fighter was the SX-3 fielded by the Alliance, coming in at around fifteen point three six meters if Jepern remembered the brief correctly, and Salarians had photographic memories.

A fighter sized craft shouldn’t have the mass accelerator weapon strength to have disabled the barriers on the drone. Granted, this craft was far larger than a fighter, but its canard mounted weapons fired only once, each. Jepern continued, freezing the video again at the point where the unknown craft fired its weapons. A blue beam shot out from the two barrels on the wingtip. At first glance Jepern had thought it some sort of mass accelerator weapon, but as he watched the video again, frame by frame he noticed that it was a coherent beam. This had to be some sort of directed energy weapon.

The chances that it was just data corruption was very low, but the chances that someone that the Citadel races hadn’t even encountered before would manage to manufacture energy weapons. He gave the Salarian equivalent of a sigh as he turned toward his aide, Lieutenant Taerall Yoban, “Lieutenant Yoban, which was the nearest unit in the area?”

“Turian patrol group _Tartarus_ in the Minos Wasteland, Fortis system, sir” replied the Lieutenant as he looked up from his datapad. “Shall I inform Turian command, sir?” Major Sulan took a deep breath, and then nodded slowly.

“Do it,” he said as he stood to his feet. “And hope that they can get us more answers than we have.”

**Captain Hosnus Lupirinus**

Captain Lupirinus of the Hierarchy’s Navy wasn’t a suspicious, not as far as other Turians went in any case. But when orders came in from Hierarchy command to investigate an uninhabited system that was on the very border between Outer Council space and the Traverse, even he knew something wasn’t entirely right. The Traverse was a part of space that the Council usually didn’t care about. For some reason, whatever they thought was there was enough of a cause for concern to divert his patrol group to the system.

“Approaching the relay now Captain,” said his helmsman, whose fingers danced across in the display in a display of his natural skill.

“Good, let’s get this over with,” he said. He watched as the three frigates under his command made their way toward the mass effect relay. The massive spinning rings in the center of the prong shaped construct start spinning faster as the ship approached, the relay already having aligned to the one in Celestial Abyss cluster’s Phaeron system. As the ship accelerated, a tendril of element zero flared out from the spinning section of the relay as the view out of the bridge viewport was filled with the blue hue of the mass-less corridor between the two relays.

The three Frigates ‘dropped out’ on the other end, the relay system looked fairly quiet. But then again, the Phaeron system was adjacent to the one the relay was located in. The Captain didn’t bother to check its name on his Navigational aids. “Move us to the Phaeron system, prepare to make the jump. Get me a scan of this system.”

“Aye sir!” came the responses from the rest of his bridge crew as they went about their tasks. Captain Lupirinus watched as the ship accelerated toward the edge of the system, feeling the frigate’s powerful engines through the deck plate. But he still couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling that he was getting. You didn’t send three Frigates on a reconnaissance mission, especially not when the Salarians had spy drones. Captain Lupirinus wondered if that was why they were being sent in, not to check the system, but to get a better look at what they already know is there.

Lupirinus turned to his gunnery officer, “Charge the mass accelerators and prepare to fire our disruptor torpedoes.” The weapons officer nodded and got to work. He then got on the ship wide intercom, “Crew, report to battle stations! Repeat, battle stations!” The Captain then switched to the patrol group wide channel, “Patrol group Tartarus, charge weapons and arm disruptor torpedoes. I don’t think we’re out here for no reason.”

“Understood Captain,” came the voice of the frigate on his starboard side. Her commanding officer, Commander Larter Caelso had been with Lupirinus since the academy. They’d served with each other for the entirety of their careers so far. Both men trusted each other almost implicitly.

“Confirmed, weapons ready,” said the frigate on the port’s commanding officer. Commander Opius Bardos wasn’t a bad officer, but he was certainly a little to gung-ho by Turian standards. Maybe gung-ho was what they needed at this point.

The ships continued together in perfect formation, demonstrative of the discipline, training and skill of the helmsman of the Turian Hierarchy. “In position, sir,” called the helmsman from his station. “Ready to make the jump.”

“Understood,” replied Lupirinus before he clicked on the shared communications channel between the three frigates, “All ships, prepare for FTL jump on my mark.” The helmsman took his cue and waited for the order to make the jump. The seconds seemed to last for eternities as Lupirinus began counting down, “Three, two, one.” A slight air of nervousness enveloped the Turian Captain before he gave the order. Spirits, it’d be so much easier when they actually got there. “Mark.”

It wasn’t a long jump to the Phaeron system, the three frigates dropped out of FTL on the edge of the system. “Move in slowly, scan for anything that shouldn’t be here, maximum intensity,” he ordered the patrol group. The three ships moved forward at a snail’s pace in comparison with how fast the frigates were capable of moving, but they found nothing until the long range scanners lit up.

“Captain!” said the crewman in a panicked tone of voice. “You need to come and see this, sir.” Turian crewman were very disciplined, and so unless this was something that wasn’t covered in their dozens of contingency plans for specific situations, the crewman had no reason to panic. Lupirinus walked over, looking at the sensor station and suddenly found his mandibles go slack.

Huge energy and thermal signatures, coming from constructs that were larger than the largest dreadnought of all the Council races. One of them was just about half the length of the Citadel. He would have believed that they were stations of some kind, but stations didn’t appear out of nowhere, and based on how large they were, the chance that they were built before _someone_ took notice was far too low. There was also the presence of engine units on their rear that reminded him of commercially available fusion torches.

The ships were clearly warships, obvious weapon mounts lined their sides and most of them had dorsal and prow mounted weapons as well. Weapons which, Lupirinus noted, were massive in scale and power signature. There was one thing that shocked the Captain, and that was there was not a trace of element zero on any of these ships. Maybe that explained why they hadn’t been seen before, FTL travel was notoriously slow.

Lupirinus turned to his communications officer, “Get me the Hierarchy Naval Command. Show them what we’re seeing. They need to see this.” The communications officer nodded and began transmitting a data stream from their LADAR back to the hierarchy.

There was silence on the bridge as they waited for word from the hierarchy, stuck so far in this very uncomfortable standoff. The weapons on those ships were several times larger than the entirety of his ships alone. But that was when his communications officer turned to him, “Sir, we’re receiving a communication from the unknown ship. The data format is barely readable, sir, but we’ve managed to translate it using known human language lexicons.”

Humans? That didn’t make any sense. Since when did humans gain the ability to make ships this large. He knew that some of their kind worked in the Terminus systems, but what was the chance that they’d managed to develop ships that didn’t need eezo to function?  “Are you sure that isn’t a glitch in the translation routines, Lieutenant?” he asked, the Turian equivalent of a frown forming on his features.

 “Yes, sir,” replied the Lieutenant. “I’ve checked and rechecked. It’s tricky, but most of it is out of date and a few phrases that didn’t quite translate.” Now _this_ didn’t make any sense. If these were humans, why didn’t they use the same language that those with the Alliance or colonies in the Terminus systems used?

The Captain sighed, “Play it, Lieutenant.” The communications officer nodded and the accented voice of the human played through.

“This is Supreme Admiral Thalia Parrington of the -. I ask that you power your weapons down and shut down all other attempts at - . If you’re willing, I’d like to invite you aboard my ship to speak with you.” It was a human name alright, but the title was strange. Probably a glitch in the translation suite. This human was asking to meet him, and he didn’t mention anything about the Hierarchy or any of the other council races. He didn’t even mention the Systems Alliance. Was he unaware of their existence? And none of this answered the many questions he had in regard to those ships.

“Patch me through,” he said, taking a deep breath to steady his thoughts. The communications officer sighed, but knowing that this was the only option did as he was told. He nodded at Lupirinus, telling him he was connected. “This is Captain Lupirinus of the Turian Hierarchy. I’m afraid I can’t do that Admiral. I’m sure you understand that. But I am willing to talk this out from here. Are you agreeable?”

The entire bridge as silent as they waited for the human Admiral to respond. Lupirinus’ great uncle had served in the first contact war as a fleet officer as well, but this was far scarier. This wasn’t the Alliance, this was something far, far worse. Lupirinus couldn’t help but think for a moment this was some sort of cosmic justice for how they’d treated humanity.

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

Waiting for an enemy you knew was coming put you in a clearly advantageous position, but there was only one issue with that theory and its application to the Lord Admiral’s current situation; she had very little knowledge of just what to expect from the those who built the automata they’d disabled. She didn’t even have credible proof that they’d be hostile. She very much doubted however that they’d have very peaceful intentions after what happened. Admittedly she’d made a very aggressive decision when she’d ordered the craft disabled, but with the information that she had at the time, it was quite honestly the best one she could have made.

But if there was one thing that they’d learned is that these ships didn’t seem to have void shields or similar technology. The lascannons on the Fury had punched right through the hull, and so the Lord Admiral thought that it might be best to employ laser based weaponry. Lance weapons were very effective against armor, and the Apocalypse-class Battleship’s design allowed it to effectively double its Lance weapons’ range by pouring more power into them via their massive plasma power conduits, allowing them to keep their targets at range.

The Godsbane-pattern Lance batteries on the Apocalypse had a range of twenty-four void units, or twenty four thousand Imperial standard kilometers. With the additional power from the plasma power conduits going into the Lance batteries, it could hit a target forty-eight void units out, with the additional power making up for the beam dispersion issue experienced when the weapon was mounted on other vessels. 

Both the _Wrath of the Imperium_ and the _Emperor’s Fist_ had charged their Lance batteries in preparation for the attack and both ships were holding beside the _Fist of Judgment_ with their port and starboard Lance batteries respectively angled out at the empty void ahead. A beeping alerted her to the fact that the Auger arrays had picked up something. Walking over to the main auger monitoring station, she bent down to look at the station, leaning on the operator’s seat, “Report.”

“Ma’am, auger arrays report three ships of unknown origins inbound,” said the crewman, and following a few keystrokes and an image of the ship was displayed on screen. “Scans indicate possible weapons running down the ships’ length, based on power output. Their mass is far less than a ship of that size should be ma’am, just like the automata.” Even though she wasn’t familiar with these ships, she could tell that there was a similarity between the automata and these larger ships. A different design, but based on the same principles. “Orders, ma’am?” asked Captain Mojaro from behind her.

Looking at their formation, she couldn’t help but note how it was similar to the manner in which the escort squadrons of the Imperialis Armada operated, but right now, it was their move. “Right now, it’s their move, Captain,” said Thalia as she nodded at the ships on the display in front of them. There was pin drop silence on the bridge, save for the beeping and whirring of cogitators as they waited to see what those ships would do.

It had occurred to the Lord Admiral that even if they wanted to speak to her, there was no way to be sure their communications systems were compatible, or that they even spoke the same language. For a microsecond, her mind toyed with the idea that this was the galaxy that she was born into, but for some reason very different than she remembered things. She quickly squelched such an idea, this wasn’t some fantastical tale or fictional broadcast made for the enjoyment of citizens, this was reality. Those things didn’t happen.

Suddenly, one of the sensor operators called out with a wariness in his tone, “Ma’am! Power build up from the lead ship!” The Admiral didn’t jump to any conclusions just yet. They could be boosting power to whatever defense systems they had, the Lord Admiral’s smallest ship was about nineteen times larger than these ships after all. Then again, it could also be weapon systems. “Tight beam laser burst detected, ma’am!” said the crewman.

Tight beam laser bursts, if their communications systems worked like a vox, then they were definitely trying to contact someone. “They’re calling this in,” said Captain Mojaro. “Ma’am…they could be calling for help.” The expression on her face changed to that of alarm, “Ma’am, if they’re calling for help we can’t sit here and let them scan our ships.”

The Captain was right; she wasn’t about to let the men and women under her command be massacred, but she wasn’t about to slaughter these people, whoever they are, if she could help it. “Patch me through to their lead ship. If we can get them to cease and stand down, then I’d like to avoid blowing them to hell.” The communications officer tapped away at his station before giving the Lord Admiral a signal that she was patched in. “This is Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington of the Imperialis Armada. I ask that you power your weapons down and shut down all other attempts at communication. If you’re willing, I’d like to invite you aboard my ship to speak with you.” The Lord Admiral didn’t think that High Gothic would be understood, so she spoke in the Saturnyne dialect of Low Gothic, deciding that it would probably be the more likely to be understood of the two.

A reply crackled through the bridge speakers a moment later, it was distinctively flanging, and more importantly in a language that none of them could understand. To the bridge crew, it sounded aggressive and hostile. For all they knew, it probably _was_. Clearly, no human was capable of this sort of speech, which left only one option; xenos. “Xenos…” muttered the Captain. They were all painfully aware of the various xenos empires and species that dared to defy the Imperium and would not hesitate for a moment in wiping them out.

Now it made sense. That was what had happened to Molov, these xenos must’ve destroyed the world and left that automata to see if any Imperial forces would be coming back. This must be a scout group, especially given their similarity to Imperial escort craft that she’d noted earlier. “Patch me into the _Wrath and the Fist_ ,” she said through gritted teeth. “If these xenos think they can attack Imperial planets and get away with it, we’ll show them how the Imperium deals with such aggression.”

Memories of the xenos creatures that had plagued her home world before the Great Crusade flooded through her mind. She’d lost her father to fiendish xenos, and these seemed to be no different, if not worse.

“You’re patched in, ma’am,” said the communications officer, grim determination evident in his tone.

“Lord Admiral Parrington to _Wrath of the Imperium_ and _Emperor’s Fist_ , fire at the xenos ships, disable one and destroy the others,” she said, tone commanding, but rage edging through.

“Understood Lord Admiral,” came the response from the _Wrath of the Imperium’s_ commanding officer, Captain Gravius Kern. “Engaging.” Captain Kern’s service record was impressive, he’d served as the executive officer on the _Wrath_ for little over thirty years now, and with Captain Melnik’s unfortunate passing, Kern took over as the ship’s Captain prior to their mission. Melnik had been with her from the start of the Crusade, but his body simply could not handle the rejuvenat treatments anymore, a rare but still quite present case with aforementioned treatments.

Bringing her mind back to the task at hand, she looked at the tactical display which displayed the firing lines of the ship, showing that it’s two Godsbane Lance batteries were about to fire at the two ships to the port and starboard of what looked to be the xenos command ship, an assumption based purely on its position in the formation.

Two of the massive Lance turrets fired, the first one’s beam sliced into the wing like section of the xenos ship and punching right through the ship, coming out the other end before the beam disappeared, the turret that fired it cooling down and recharging its capacitors. The second turret in the battery fired, it’s brilliant blue beam punching right through the midsection of the ship before passing out the other end. The ship’s hull began to disintegrate after the massive energy weapons had torn into them, venting atmosphere set ablaze before it’s damaged reactor blew, showering its comrades with debris.

The debris were stopped as an energy field winked in place around the ships. This attack had revealed that that xenos did have some sort of defense shields, but they were seemingly unable to defend against laser based weapons. A thought crossed her mind, if they couldn’t defend against laser weapons, did that apply to all energy based weapons? These ships were not even at the maximum range of the Godsbane Lance weapons; they were in fact at around twenty void units based on the auger readings. “Lord Admiral Parrington to _Emperor’s Fist_ , switch attack pattern, use Hecutor Plasma Cannons. Captain Kern, continue with the plan, disable the other ship.

“Understood, ma’am,” came the reply from Captain Octavius Fisger. Fisger was a very much by the books Captain, known for his cautious approach, preferring to keep the enemy at range. Even with such a cautious combat style, he proved himself. There was no one in the battle group who was ‘new’ or ‘inexperienced’, their original task required commanders who could get the job done.

Four dorsally mounted Hecutor-pattern Plasma cannons on the _Emperor’s Fist_ turned toward the xenos ship in the distance and then fired. Four brilliant blue bolts of plasma streaked out toward the ship, which began moving to maneuver out of the way. One of the bolts was a clear miss, but the other three were impacts. The first impacted, triggering the ship’s shield which immediately collapsed, allowing the bolt to hit the rear end. With the enhanced visual sensors on the ship, she could see how the plasma bolt tore through the craft’s engines before detonating explosively and vaporizing a good chunk of what was left off, leaving fused together hull plating and power conduits left. The next one hit its target mid-ship, tearing through the hull and igniting the escaping atmosphere before exploding and shearing off much of the middle of the ship.

If the ship was barely holding itself together at that point, the final rendered its super structure nonexistent. The final shot hit short of the ship’s prow, severing the prow section off as it tore through the already compromised hull. The explosion ripped what was left of the ship apart.

The final ship fired its main weapon at her ship, which was at the tip of the arrow formation that they’d taken up. They only had a couple seconds of firing, during which they kept up a steady stream of fire, before a lance beam from the _Wrath of the Imperium_ sliced though one of its wings and then ripped through the forward potion of its hull, silencing its main weapon. The incoming projectiles however impacted harmlessly against the ship’s mighty void shields.

Cheers erupted from the bridge team, even Severin looked ‘happy’, as happy as a Tech-Priest could look that was. “Void shield status?” asked the Lord Admiral, reminding them all that they still had a job to do, they weren’t done just yet.

“Void shields are at full power, Lord Admiral,” replied Severin. “The foul xenos weapons are no match for the gifts of the Omnissiah.”

“Good,” said the Lord Admiral, relieved that the blue hued high velocity projective hadn’t managed to touch the shields. This meant that they could damage the xenos ships without worrying about taking damage. “Send word to Lord Marshall Lissie,” said Thalia as she turned toward Captain Mojaro. “Inform him that his men may begin their attack.”

**Major Valerian Thule**

The entire troop bay of the Shark Assault Boat was filled with two Veletaris sections. Major Thule had been in command of the Veletaris assigned to the Lord Marshall’s personal command, the 1st Saturnyne Rams, ever since the Great Crusade had started. He hadn’t asked for them, but when he was offered to continue as commanding officer of the unit, he’d taken the rejuvenat treatments without looking back.

Through thick and thin, he’d led the unit into battle alongside his Lord Marshall, and if the Lord Marshall was not giving up, then what right did he have? This time was no exception, the Lord Marshall needed this xenos ship boarded, and he was all too happy to oblige. He along with two full squads of his best men and a nine-strong unit of Thallax from the Ordo Reductor were en route to board the xenos vessel.

The entire bay was silent save for the barely audible whirring of servos in the Saturnyne-pattern Enhanced Void Hardened Carapace Armor worn by each and every one of his men and the motivator servos in the joints of the cyborg Thallax, and the hum of the ship’s powerful engines that enabled it to keep up with the five Saturnyne-pattern Fury Interceptors that were escorting them.

This wasn’t the first time he’d be joining Archmagos Hypax’s men on a combat operation, with the Archmagos having worked with them on numerous occasions before. Though he hadn’t worked with the leader of this particular unit before, he doubted it was going to be a very different experience. Three of the Thallax were armed with Multi-lasers, while another three were armed with Phase-Plasma Fusils, while the remaining three had Lightning guns with underslung heavy chain blades. The loadout made sense, enough punch to deal with heavy armor without accidentally breaching the ship’s hull, and enough firepower to deal with a potential swarm of enemies.

Thule himself carried a Jovian-pattern Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle, with a targeter mounted atop the weapon and an Ursh manufactured under barrel auxiliary grenade launcher. The combination of the grenade launcher and a plasma weapon could normally be considered suicidal, the Mars-pattern weapon generated about as much heat as a las weapon while having slightly less armor piercing power and punch per shot than a ‘standard’ plasma weapon. It was a trade off, and a good compromise between a Volkite Charger and a heavier plasma weapon.

Four of his men hefted two ‘Auxilia’-pattern Heavy Flamers and two Saturnyne-pattern Rotor Cannons between them, while the rest of the unit carried a mix of one Saturnyne-pattern Phased Plasma Fusil, one Jovian-pattern Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle, two Volkite Chargers and two Ural-pattern Heavy Assault Shotguns. Even though the xenos ship had crumbled apart on weapons fire, the unit was playing it safe and all projectile weapons had been loaded with penetrator rounds. If the adamantine sabots the rounds fired couldn’t punch through whatever passed for armor among the crew, then it was going to be obvious that heavier weapons would be needed. Thule however, was confident that they’d be able to handle these xenos, they’d faced far worse during the Great Crusade, and were prepared to face far worse when Horus turned his back on the Imperium. 

“Five minutes out, standby!” called the pilot from the cockpit. On cue, the Veletaris checked their suit seals and their weapons. The sounds of hissing could be heard as suit seals were re-pressurized. In the void, you could never be too careful. Your suit seal was intact, or you were dead. It was habit that was instilled into all of them during their training, and one that in an elite unit like this he didn’t have to enforce its practice. “Hold on tight boys and girls,” came the voice of the pilot. “Power build up detected, they’re probably going to fire at us.”

Looking through the cockpit canopy, Major Thule watched as a thin laser raked across the ship’s hull. For a moment, he was concerned. He’d long learned to not judge weapons by their appearance, but the cabin echoed in laughter as the Shark continued on toward its path; the fore end of the ship. “Stupid ass xenos weaponry,” he heard the throne agent sitting in the crew compartment mutter before he returned his attention to his cogitator gauntlet.

“If these xenos’ guns are as weak as the ones on their ships, then this should be a cake walk,” said Corporal Darius Almos, giving his Jovian-pattern Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle a final check over. Thule smiled to himself under his helmet, Darius normally always had something to say about just about anything, and it didn’t feel normal without him doing so.

“It will be if you keep your mouth shut and focus on shooting them,” said Lieutenant Trudi Breutzman, the pilot light on her Auxilia-pattern Heavy Flamer winking on. Of course, it wouldn’t be normal without Trudi putting him in his place either. Darius looked like he was about to say something when the door to the cockpit shut with a _hiss_ from the hydraulics.

“Prepare for breach! Brace! Brace for impact!” called the pilot over the intercom. The forces of deceleration could be felt by the Thule and the other Veletaris. It was so routine at this point that none of them really outwardly cared very much even as the crash harnesses tightened in anticipation of a crash. The Thallax had their own crash restraints, but no seats, in any case the cyber augmented shock troops of the Ordo Reductor didn’t seem to care anymore or any less than their human comrades.

The craft shook as it impacted the enemy ship’s hull. The lights of the cabin changed to red, indicating to the troops that the docking process wasn’t complete. He could feel the vibration of the docking clamps moving into place before the force of the breaching charges reverberated through the forward section of the hull. Even though he couldn’t hear them, having done this many a time before, Major Thule knew that the las-breachers would be cutting through what was left of the hull at this point.

The cabin lighting changed from red to green, indicating to the troops that they were free to disembark. The Thallax moved first, stepping toward the airlock ahead. The Veletaris didn’t need to be told to move, as one they stood to their feet, weapons in their hands as they took up positions behind the Thallax. The blast doors opened with a _hiss_ as the hydraulics pried the two halves of the door apart.

Looking out into the ship ahead, he wasn’t entirely surprised that it was very similar to the ship’s exterior design. Considerable attention as placed in covering up the plating on the walls with panels, the passageways were curved too, it was very different to how the Imperium built ships, even Saturnyne and Jovian ships, who many argued were more ascetically pleasing on the inside than the Martian ships. Which of course may not have been the case for all Martian produced ships, but over his long career, he’d come to learn that it was the case for a majority of them. Where the Shark had breached however, the panels were throw off the walls, exposing sparking wiring and circuitry. One of the grates on the floor had come off, meaning the Veletaris and the Thallax had to step over the gap.

From what he could see, it was what was left of the ship’s main weapons battery. Ahead of them, sealed away behind some sort of atmospheric shielding was the breach torn in the hull by the Lance fired by the _Wrath of the Imperium_. “Alright, let’s push up! The Thallax will take point,” he ordered over the secured shared vox channel. The massive power armor clad cyborgs did as they were told, walking toward the exit of the current room, their metallic feet _clanging_ against the deck loudly.

He noticed the cloud of insect like creatures following with them, some disappearing into the ducts of cabling while the others spread out, but still followed behind him and his men. As they approached the door, the ‘lead’ Thallax looked around for some sort of access panel, but finding none simply kicked the door open, aided by his power armor.

The moment the door to the main battery was kicked open, the high-pitched whine of some sort of weapons fire filled his ears. The Thallax however, were not really affected at all, as the high velocity rounds coming in at them was stopped by their power armor. He and his Veletaris pushed up just in time to witness two of the xenos get annihilated by one of the Thallax’s Lightning guns, the ionized laser frying its armor and instantly killing it. While it’s comrade fried the second xenos, the aforementioned xenos stepped forward over the dead one and keeled over.

The two xenos had short weapons that in some sense reminded Thule of the combat shotguns used by the Adeptus Arbites. It was a sound tactic, something he would have done too if he was unaware of the presence of heavily armored shock troops such as the Thallax. He remembered his orders to bring a couple of the corpses back for study and so quickly keyed his mic, “Police those bodies, grab their weapons and take them back to the assault craft.”

Two of his men immediately went about carrying out his orders, picking up one of the dead xenos by their hands and feet and taking them back.  Both bodies were clad in some sort of void suit, armored too by the looks of it. The visors were polarized, and hence he couldn’t really tell much from looking at it, however based on what he could tell of their anatomy, they were barely humanoid, only in so much as having two arms and two legs. The shape of the helmet belied a head that was indeed very distinct from that of a human’s and limbs and a general body structure that reminded him of a bird more than anything else.

Taking a quick look around, he could make out that they were in the crew deck of some kind, based on the mess table to their right. With the Thallax at the head, the Veletaris pushed forward, encountering no resistance at all, presumably because the crew was at battle stations and very few would actually be in the crew quarters. As they pushed forward, they reached a staircase leading both above and below decks. “What’s the plan, Major?” asked Lieutenant Breutzman as she stopped beside him, her Auxilia-pattern Heavy Flamer barrel poked around the corner of the stairwell.

“We take the bridge first,” said Major Thule, nodding at the stairs heading above decks. “Then we head below decks and clear this ship of xenos scum.” He waved the Thallax forward and they did as they were instructed and moved up, Lightning guns at the ready. However, as soon as they reached the bridge, three sources of shrill beeping were detected. The three disc-shaped objects landed amongst the Thallax, exploding and covering them all in an incendiary fluid. The Thallax, sealed inside their power armor and basically immune to pain, advanced forward.

As they came up, they faced a fusillade of weapons fire from the xenos, but the Thallax were smart enough to not block the stairs, and so as the Thallax pushed up. A hail of Multi-laser fire forced the xenos to keep their heads down, while the other Thallax and the Veletaris pushed up behind them. As they came up behind the Thallax, the Veletaris at the front got to witness first hand as one of the Thallax smacked down one of the xenos that got too close and then crushed its head with a sickening _crunch-splat_.

The xenos learned their lesson, shifting fire from the Thallax as they hid behind what looked like the tactical map in the center of the room. From what he knew about bridge layouts, it seemed that these xenos had their commander in the center, looking down on the other bridge crew, and it was serving them well in this case. Rounds smacked into his armor, but to his surprise, they didn’t do much other than stagger him. Of course, that didn’t matter as Lieutenant Trudi and the other flamer wielding Veletaris pushed up and showered the offenders with fire.

He heard three distinct electric pops before watching as three still burning xenos fell out from behind cover, screaming and cursing in their alien tongue. Another xenos tried to pop up from behind another bridge station but Thule put a trio of plasma bolts into him. The three bolts boiled the xenos’ armor and flash boiled his blood and incinerated his organs. He could see the still molten edges of the holes the bolts had melted through the armor as the xenos fell to the floor, dead.  

The fore end of this deck had been sealed off, likely due to the fact that the Lance had vented that area when it punched right through. If there was anyone there, he very much doubted that they survived the Lance. That was when things took a turn. One of the xenos, hiding behind what seemed to be a weapon’s station of sorts lifted what looked like whatever analog these xenos had for a sniper rifle and fired a round right through the visors of one of his men.

The Veletaris dropped dead right beside Thule, a neat hole in his helmet’s cracked visor. Thule made to fire when he saw a large plasma bolt streak out from one of the heavy plasma guns in the unit, the bolt caught the xenos in the head, leaving nothing existing neck up as the headless body dropped to the floor. Thule turned around, looking down expectantly at the medic who was checking him over. But the medic looked up at him and shook his head slowly. He was dead.

“Take him back to the assault craft corporal,” Thule said to the medic. “The rest of you, let’s finish clearing this deck.”

“Hell yeah, sir,” proclaimed Darius, snapping up his heavy plasma gun and pushing up with two Volkite Charger wielding Hoplites. “Time to kick some xenos ass.”

This time, the Veletaris were taking point. The moment the doors to the next section opened, heavy flamers led the way, spraying any xenos who got in their way with a hot burning cone of flame. Volkite and Plasma Rifle fire followed, and the xenos in the hall were quickly dropped, not even getting the opportunity to open fire. However, as they moved into the next room, a beeping sound caught their attention.

Lieutenant Breutzman and the other Veletaris with her looked down at the cylinder-shaped object at their feet, before the Lieutenant could do anything, the other Veletaris leapt on the grenade. The man was thrown against the wall panel, denting it, while the Lieutenant merely stumbled backward. Volkite beams and plasma bolts streaked out from the hall as the first row of Veletaris dropped to a crouch in front of their comrades. A fragmentation grenade of their own hurled in amongst the xenos. Thule watched the ‘look’ on their face turn from determination to defeat as they realized in a split second that it was all over.

The grenade blew, and when the flash and smoke cleared, there was nothing but charred and broken armor left in the room. One of the medics quickly checked over the two Veletaris who’d been hit by the grenade, quickly dropping to her knees beside them. “Asa’s gone sir,” said the medic, sadness in her voice evident despite the fact that she was used to seeing her comrades die.

Thule nodded, Asa had been closer to the grenade when it had gone off after all. Lieutenant Breutzman was shaken, but Thule knew her, she wasn’t going to just lie down and give up. He walked over, craning his neck slightly so that he looked directly into her visor, and for the briefest of moments they stood staring visor to visor before he spoke, “Status, Lieutenant?” Her armor was partially scorched from the blast, but it was still solid, the woman underneath perhaps more so. She’d detached her Heavy Flamer, whose nozzle and barrel were damaged beyond belief, the weapon’s emergency safety features the only thing keeping it from spontaneously combusting.

Lieutenant Breutzman looked down at the destroyed weapon, then the fallen Hoplite beside her before looking up at him, “Pissed off, sir.”

“Good,” said Thule, nodding once before he turned to the medic and the Veletaris next to her, “Private Berth, assist Corporal Menas in moving Private Asa back to the ship.”

The private snapped off a smart salute, “Sir!” With that, he helped the medic with moving the body back to the ship while the rest of the Veletaris moved out of the hallway. Once they reached the Thallax, Thule turned to their ‘leader’, “Push forward, take point. We’re moving to the lowest deck.”

With the Thallax at the head, they pushed into the lower deck. As they entered the deck, which seemed to be some sort of cargo deck. They were immediately met with hostile contact, a boxy looking APC with what looked to him as having a remote operated turret on the back opened up on the Thallax. The Thallax were momentarily stunned before they opened fire with their Lightning guns and Phase-Plasma Fusils, which melted the plating and shorted out electronics on the turret, which was what the Thallax aimed at first.

A barrage of Volkite and Plasma Rifle fire from the Veletaris that followed turned the vehicle into little more than a charred mess. The Veletaris fanned out in the cargo bay, killing another two xenos who were in lighter armor than their comrades. Behind them, there seemed to be two sets of doors, based on the energy signatures, it seemed to be their ship’s reactor.

The fighting there was minimal at best, and the xenos there were lightly armed to boot, though they did have some sort of strange holographic projected gauntlet which they’d used to try and overload the systems of a Thallax, probably believing it to be an automata. All it served was to get them a Lightning gun beam to the face.

After a thorough search of the ship, Captain Thule got on the vox to the Lord Marshall, the signal being boosted by the Shark’s own communication systems, “Sir, Captain Thule here. The xenos ship has been cleared. Two casualties.”

“They will be remembered Captain,” said the Lord Marshall. “You have done well. Standby, the transports are inbound.”

“Yes sir,” replied Captain Thule as he clicked the vox off. ‘Fear not death, for it is nature’s sole intent. Fear instead a death without meaning,’ thought Thule, reminding himself of the Ancient Terran proverb that the Auxilia kept close to their hearts. His men had died for a reason, they’d died protecting the Imperium, hadn’t they? If that was true, then why didn’t it feel right?

**_Several hours later_ , Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

Standing in the briefing room, Lord Admiral Parrington waited with Lord Marshall Lissie for Archmagos Hypax  and operative Arold. Apparently, they’d discovered a wealth of information from the ship that they’d boarded. Not that either of them knew just what that was, but the Magos and his Tech-Priests had been digging around in the craft, while the xenos bodies had been given over to the Mechanicus as well. He didn’t know how they did what they did, but he was glad they weren’t doing it on his ship.

“I hope it’s all been worth it,” muttered Bertie as he looked around the room impatiently. “Damnable xenos.”

“At least we know that they’re not much of a threat, at least not in the numbers that they currently have,” offered the Lord Admiral as some sort of consolation to Bertie for losing some of his men.

“Small mercies,” said Bertie, letting out a sigh. “But you’re right, if we can kill their ships so easily then there’s no way they’re going to be able to hold up in a full-scale conflict against us, even with the few ships we have.”

It was at that point however, that the doors to the room opened with a _hiss_ and in stepped Operative Arold and Archmagos Hypax. “Alright,” said the throne agent as he walked toward the central table. “You want the good news, or do you want the bad?”

“Let’s start with some good news Operative Arold,” said Lord Marshall Lissie. “Something that’ll convince me that losing two of my men was worth it.”

“Well, during my infiltration of their systems, I was able to locate a translator suite of some kind,” said Operative Arold. “And that’s not all, I compared the languages to Gothic, both High and Low, and I found that several languages that were marked as ‘human’ had some similarities to several Low-Gothic dialects.”

 “My adepts have compiled a translator of our own,” said Archmagos Hypax. “One that is currently being distributed to any device with a cogitator.”

“Hold on,” interrupted Lord Admiral Parrington, holding her hand up to prompt him to stop. “Are you telling me that they have languages marked as human, but they’re _not_ Low or High-Gothic but _similar_? Are you implying that…”

“And that’s not all,” cut in Operative Arold, voice sounding panicked, excited and yet still trying to stay calm. He tapped at the hololithic panes projected by his gauntlet before a hologram of a man in unrecognizable uniform was displayed. “The Earth Systems Alliance,” said Arold. “Earth, is an ancient name for Terra, and they’re human. Clearly.” He was looking up from the hololithic panes to see their reactions, and then just smiled to himself as they all looked on in amazement. “The Galaxy is ruled by a ‘Council’ of xenos races that rule from a station within Segmentum Obscura. The one’s we just fought call themselves the Turians.”

As he mentioned their name, the image displayed changed to one of the aforementioned xenos. The Lord Admiral had to admit, they reminded her a fair bit of an avian predator, not unlike the psyber eagle she’d seen perched on the throne agent’s shoulder. “Then we’ve got the Asari,” said Operative Arold. The next image was of a rather shapely humanoid, that if not for the blue skin and tentacles coming from the back of their head, she might have said were indeed quite naturally beautiful. “Finally, we’ve got the Salarians.” said Operative Arold, this time a rather strange hunch backed species with a caved-in chest was displayed. They distinctly reminded the Lord Admiral of the frogs that were found on Terra.

Arold went on to explain the current state of Galactic politics, mass effect technology and the relays, how humanity had managed to make its entrance onto the galactic stage. Humanity’s colonies out in the ‘Attican Traverse’, which was shown on a galactic map broken down into three distinct zones; Terminus space, the Attican traverse and Council space.

The other races were mentioned, the Batarians, Krogan, Quarians and Geth. While Mass Effect technology and its origins, as vague as they were described mattered not to anyone present, the three commanders realized that some of these xenos species weren’t so bad. Unlike the xenos they’d encountered, none were actively trying to wipe out humanity. Other races had been mentioned as well, but they were considered to unimportant to consider for the moment.

The Krogan, with their mercenary nature might make be excellent for supplementing their numbers. Their hate of the Council would be largely advantageous. Cooperative xenos were something that the Imperium were never afraid to deal with. What was the point of fighting them when they could be used as expendable Shock Troops against your enemies?

Though the other races were an entirely different mess entirely. There were far too many different factors and circumstances for any of the three leaders to have come to a consensus about. One thing was clear however, is they had agreed that it was a wise decision to make contact with this Alliance and offer them their aid. Even if man in…wherever here was, was forced to use xenos tech, it was their duty to fight for all mankind. If that meant forcefully pulling them up, then so be it. After all, was that not the cause of the Great Crusade, the one they’d wholeheartedly embarked on over two hundred years ago?

The Council would have to be dealt with one way or another. It was clear that they didn’t intend on sharing any of the power that they’d accumulated and were quite content with lording it over their section of space. The Terminus systems were another matter entirely. They could ill afford to get into a guerilla war in a sector of space they knew nothing about. But it would have to be dealt with once mankind had extended its reach once more.

It would be a new Great Crusade, starting with this world, and with their Regicide pieces played right, they’d eventually spread among the stars just as the Emperor had envisioned. They would take back the galaxy for humanity.

**Lieutenant Commander Riley Shepard**

Riley walked up with Garrus, Wrex and Tali’Zorah to the Council Chambers. Though that was going to be a mouthful, she’d better remember to ask her if she could just shorten that to Tali later. But now, with the data that Tali had found, data that had nearly cost her life, they finally had the evidence they needed to prove that Saren was a traitor.

As they reached the massive stair way up to the council chambers, Riley saw Captain Anderson waiting for them. Given his facial expression, things were either going well, or hadn’t gone bad yet. “Come on. Udina’s presenting the Quarian’s evidence to the council,” beckoned Anderson as he turned around and walked up the remaining flight of stairs.

She had been in here before, but with both times Saren staying one step ahead of her. Not this time, this time they had proof. As they walked on, she could see the Council standing at their pedestals on the other end, while she, Anderson, Wrex, Garrus and Tali walked onto the platform. As they walked, she could easily make out Saren’s voice from the message playing over the speakers, “Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit.”

Another voice then filtered through the speakers, one she didn’t recognize, “And one step closer to the return of the Reapers.”

“You wanted proof?” asked Udina, before pointing straight for the device that played the recording. “There it is!” For a man who did nothing to get said evidence, Udina was awfully confident. But then again, that’s just the kind of asshole he was.

The Turian Councilor was the first to address them, “This evidence is irrefutable, Ambassador. Saren will be stripped of his status and all efforts will be made to bring him in to answer for his crimes.” Riley knew that while they’d officially decided now that Saren was indeed a traitor, this was nothing more than a diplomatic response.

The Asari Councilor turned to her Turian counterpart, “I recognize the other voice, the one speaking with Saren; Matriarch Benezia.”

The name didn’t ring a bell, but Councilor Tevos’ tone implied that this person was well known enough for her to leave it at that. But Riley needed clarification, “Who’s she?”

There was a pause for a moment before the Asari Councilor answered, “Matriarchs are powerful Asari who have entered the final stage of their lives. Revered for their wisdom and experience, they serve as mentors and guides to my people. Matriarch Benezia is a powerful biotic, and she had many followers. She will make a formidable ally for Saren.”

The Salarian Councilor turned his gaze from the Asari Councilor as she finished her sentence and over to the assembly on the other end, “I’m more interested in the Reapers, What do you know about them?”

“Only what was extracted from the Geth’s memory core,” answered Anderson quickly. “The Reapers were an ancient race of machines that wiped out the Protheans. Then they vanished.”

“The Geth believe the Reapers are gods. And Saren is the prophet for their return,” added Riley. Trying to drive home how dangerous Saren was, not only on his own, but if he was to succeed just how dire things would be.

Anderson turned his head to look at her, he seemed to be quite startled about just how direct she was, before slowly turning back to face the council midway during his speech, “We think the Conduit is the key to bringing them back. Saren’s searching for it. That’s why he attacked Eden Prime.”

“Do we even know what this Conduit is?” asked the Salarian Councilor, his tone full of sudden skepticism.

But Riley knew that this wasn’t the time for doubt, if the Reapers were as bad as what brief parts of the vision she could even understand, then that was more than enough reason to keep Saren away from the Conduit, “Saren thinks it can bring back the Reapers. That’s bad enough.”

The Turian Councilor however wasn’t having any of it, “Listen to what you’re saying, Saren wants to bring back the machines that wiped out all life in the galaxy? Impossible. It has to be.” He turned to the Asari Councilor for support, “Where did the Reapers go? Why did they vanish? How come we’ve found no trace of their existence? If they were real, we’d have found something!”

Riley saw the very same skepticism from the council earlier when she tried talking to them about Saren, “I tried to warn you about Saren, and you refused to face the truth. Don’t make the same mistake again.” 

“This is different,” argued the Asari Councilor. “You proved Saren betrayed the Council. We all agree he’s using the Geth to search for the Conduit, but we don’t really know why."

“The Reapers are obviously just a myth, Commander,” continued the Salarian Councilor. “A convenient lie to cover Saren’s true purpose. A legend he is using to bend the Geth to his will.”

She couldn’t understand why they couldn’t understand that even on the off chance that she was right, it would spell doom for the galaxy if Saren wasn’t stopped, “Fifty thousand years ago, the Reapers wiped out all galactic civilization. If Saren finds the Conduit, it _will_ happen again!”

“Saren is rogue agent on the run for his life. He no longer has the rights or resources of a Spectre. The Council has stripped him of his position.” reminded the Turian Councilor, as if that would mean anything now that he has the Geth working for him, not to mention that massive dreadnought she’d seen on Eden Prime.

Udina suddenly seemed to pipe up, “That’s not good enough! You know he’s hiding somewhere in the Traverse. Send your fleet in!” His tone was so aggressive, Riley wondered why he was even picked for the position if this was his idea of diplomacy.

The Salarian Councilor corrected him with the same tone you’d use when speaking with an idiot, “A fleet cannot track down one man.”

“A Citadel fleet could secure the entire region,” explained Udina after he let out a breath, seeming to calm down. “Keep the Geth from attacking any more of our colonies,” he explained.

“Or it could trigger a war with the Terminus systems!” countered the Turian Councilor. “We won’t be dragged into a galactic confrontation over a few human colonies!”

Then the idea dawned on Riley, she’d actually been considering it all this time, but now that it became clear that the Saren wasn’t going to do all that much to stop Saren, she knew she had to stop him. “I can take Saren down,” she said, dropping her fist into her open palm.

The Asari Councilor seemed impressed by her initiative and turned to her Turian comrade, “The Commander’s right. There is a way to stop Saren that doesn’t require fleets or armies.” The Asari Councilor gave her Turian counterpart a knowing look, and Riley had an idea of just what that might be.

“No,” he said vehemently turning his head so he was looking at the other two Councilors. The other two Councilors didn’t entirely agree with him, and so were giving him looks of their own. “It’s too soon. Humanity is not ready for the responsibilities that come with joining the Spectres,” he added. The Turians never did warm up to humanity, and the Turian Councilor’s response was a good indication of that.

“You don’t have to send a fleet into the Traverse, and the Ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody’s happy,” argued Riley. It made sense, and was probably the only logical option other than diverting another Spectre. But that would waste an already willing asset.

The other two Councilors looked at the Turian Councilor, whose mandibles twitched once before he finally nodded. The three of them tapped at their terminals simultaneously before the Asari Councilor looked up at her, “Commander Shepard – step forward.”

Riley looked to Anderson for support, who nodded in affirmation. Riley did as she was told, with Udina stepping to the side and out of the way so Shepard could walk to the edge of the platform. Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see people on the gallery on the higher level leaning on the barricade to watch, the distinct sounds of conversation becoming louder so that she could just barely hear it. “It is the decision of the Council that you be granted all the powers and privileges of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance branch of the Citadel.”

The Salarian Councilor folded his hands as he added on to what the Asari Councilor had said, “Spectres aren’t trained, but chosen. Individuals forged in the fire of service and battle; those whose actions elevate them above the rank and file.”

The Asari Councilor picked off where the Salarian ended, “Spectres are an ideal, a symbol. The embodiment of our courage, determination, and self-reliance. They are the right hand of the Council, instruments of our will.”

Like the Asari, the Turian Councilor picked up where she’d left off, “Spectres bear a great burden. They are protectors of galactic peace, both our first and last line of defense. The safety of our galaxy is theirs to uphold.”

 “You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species,” concluded the Asari Councilor.

“I’m honored Councilor,” said Riley, bowing her head. She had an inkling that this might happen once she suggested that she be sent after Saren. But it was no less awe inspiring for her.

“We’re sending you into the traverse after Saren. He’s a fugitive from justice, so you are authorized to use any means to apprehend or eliminate him,” said the Salarian Councilor.

“Any idea where to find him?” asked Shepard, hoping to get some kind of a start on her search.

“We will forward any relevant files to Ambassador Udina,” replied the Turian Councilor.

“This meeting of the Council is adjourned,” said the Asari Councilor. Riley bowed her head again and then turned to face Captain Anderson.

Anderson looked her in the eyes for a moment before extending his hand in congratulations, “Congratulations Commander.” Riley immediately shook his hand.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, Shepard,” said Udina, prompting Riley to turn her head in his direction. “You’re going to need a ship, a crew, supplies…”

“You’ll get access to special equipment and training now. You should go down to the C-Sec Academy and speak to the Spectre requisitions officer,” suggested Anderson. Riley knew Spectre equipment to be some of the best available, so now that she knew where that was, she was definitely going to be doing that.

“Anderson, come with me. I’ll need _your_ help to set this all up,” all but barked Udina. Captain Anderson, being the man he was, just nodded simply as if Udina had spoken in a perfectly normal tone. With that, Udina and Anderson walked off, presumably to Udina’s office.

She turned and watched them leave before Wrex spoke, “Hmph! Bastard didn’t even thank you.”

“Until I find Saren, I haven’t exactly done anything yet,” said Shepard, despite the fact that she had more than enough reasons to dislike Udina, they didn’t have time for this at the moment. “Come on,” she said as she began walking off.

“Right behind you Shepard,” said Garrus as the three of them followed behind her.

As they walked, a slight awkward silence had set in, one which Tali thankfully broke, “Three hundred years ago, the Geth drove my people into exile. We asked the Council to wipe the Synthetics out, but they ignored our pleas.”

“Maybe if they’d listened, we wouldn’t be here now,’ countered Wrex, who as a Krogan, naturally had his own issues with the Council. Garrus looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped himself.

“Well,” said Shepard, hoping to ease the mood, now kinda wishing that maybe Tali didn’t break the awkward silence. “At least they’re letting us go and stop Saren and the Geth now.”

“Ah yes, it may not make up for it, but at least killing Saren will make me feel better,” said Wrex.

“Well I’m glad you’re enjoying this Wrex,” commented Garrus.

“Heh, not as much as when we get to start shooting Geth, and whichever other idiot is following Saren,” commented Wrex. A smile formed on Shepard’s face, she had to admit, Wrex did have a point.

As they walked on, Shepard could see an Alliance Admiral standing in front of a communications terminal. “No,” he said, sounding quite frustrated. “I’m waiting to speak to one of the council’s assistants.” As he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, he turned around and on seeing her immediately proceeded to congratulate her, “Congratulations on becoming the first Human Spectre, Commander. I’m certain you’ll be up to the challenge.”

“I appreciate that,” said Riley as she shook his hand.

“My name is Admiral Kahoku,” said the Admiral, introducing himself. “It’s about time the Alliance got one of our own in with the Spectres. We need people like you to deal with our…problems.” For some reason, Shepard had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

“Is something wrong, Admiral?” she asked, hoping that he’d clarify what exactly had gone wrong that required a Spectre to deal with, or at least made him thankful that Humanity had a Spectre now.

Kahoku stood up straighter, his hands behind his back, “I’m getting stonewalled by bureaucratic assholes. Nothing new.” He relaxed his posture, “Maybe you can help me, Shepard. One of my recon teams was investigating some strange activity out in the Traverse. We lost contact yesterday. Now I can’t get clearance to check it out – suddenly, it’s a restricted area. But that doesn’t apply to you Shepard, Spectres can go anywhere they want. You could find out why my team dropped out of contact.”

“I’ll find them Admiral,” she promised. Nothing bothered her more than bureaucratic red tape.

“I appreciate that, Commander. I was running out of options. I’m going to stay here and see if I can find anything out through official channels. Won’t hold my breath, though,” said Kahoku, and frankly she didn’t blame him at all. As she and the others turned to leave, Kahoku added, “I’ll upload the info on where my team was last seen to your ship. Maybe you can get some answers.”

They continued walking again and were out of earshot of Kahoku when Garrus spoke up, “Out in the Traverse…you think Saren’s got something to do with this? Maybe the recon team stumbled on a clue about where the Conduit is, and Saren got to them.”

“I sure as hell hope that’s not true Garrus,” she said. “Because that just means that we’re shit out of luck.”

Before very long, they were in the elevator heading down. Again, silence was very much present. What made it worse was the quite honestly terrible elevator music that was playing. They continued their walk, running into a C-Sec officer trying to get a troublesome Hanar to leave. She managed to get the Hanar to leave to get the license it was required to have to preach, peacefully. Garrus had commented that for the most part, this was what working for C-Sec was like.

However, it was the next person that they encountered that was a little too strange for Riley’s liking. The woman knew she was a Spectre, and informed her about two of her former associates whose business practices were in short, disgusting. Everything about her rubbed Riley wrong, even her promise to run the organization better once these two were out of the picture. But Riley wasn’t going to pass on eliminating anyone that promoted slavery, so she agreed, if only to do just that.

Their next stop was at the C-Sec requisitions, where Shepard took the first opportunity to pick up some gear. By the end of it, the requisitions officer told her that he’d be sending the items on her list to her ship. But it would seem that he, or rather his system, knew something that she didn’t. Apparently that they’d assigned her a ship.

As she and the others walked toward the elevator, Garrus cleared his throat, “I never thought they’d move this fast Shepard. Did they really already get you a ship?” As soon as he finished his question, they were in the elevator heading back up to the Normandy to wait for word from Udina.

“If C-Sec moved that fast, they wouldn’t need bounty hunters like me,’ snorted Wrex. 

“Relax Garrus,” said Riley as the elevator continued on its way up. “It’s not like they’re going to just give us the Normandy.”

Garrus snorted, “Now _that_ …would be unexpected.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” she added dryly. The terrible elevator music was all that could be heard once more, and she noticed that Tali had been uncharacteristically quiet, based on what little she knew of the Quarian that was. But then again, this was all probably a lot to take in for her.

Riley was easily younger than her when she had started her service with the Alliance. They’d awarded her the Star of Terra for rallying the colonists on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz, and then holding out against the Batarians once the defenders were breached. Many of the colonists had died once the defenses were breached, and Shepard used to wish that she could have been down there with them.

But her skills as a marksman demanded that she stay in an overwatch position, and hindsight revealed that if she wasn’t in an overwatch position, they’d have been overrun a lot faster. She might even been killed in the fighting, or worse, become the Batarian’s play thing until the Alliance arrived. But the colonists had held the line, and funneled the Batarians like witless idiots into her scope.

The sound of the elevator doors opening snapped her out of her thoughts, and as she looked out onto the docks ahead, she could make out Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson speaking with each other. She quickly jogged over to them, whatever it was, it had to be important. Both Udina and Anderson shared looks before Udina turned his head in her direction, “I’ve got big news for you, Shepard. Captain Anderson is stepping down as commanding officer of the Normandy. The ship is yours now.”

That was very literally the last thing she had expected to be told, and it didn’t help that Udina was the one delivering the news. Anderson turned to face her, crossing his hands before he spoke, “She’s quick and quiet and you know the crew. Perfect ship for a Spectre. Treat her well, Commander.”

Riley however, didn’t buy that answer as the entirety of the truth one bit, “I want the truth. Why are you stepping down, sir?”

“You needed your own ship. A Spectre can’t answer to anyone but the Council. And it’s time for me to step down,” he explained, but Riley knew Anderson too well to believe that. There was something more to this, as grateful she was to have the Normandy at her disposal, she knew there was more to this.

“Come clean with me, Captain. You owe me that much,” she said.

She could see Anderson deflate the slightest bit, “I was in your shoes twenty years ago, Shepard. They were considering me for the Spectres.”

Riley didn’t know what to think, and so all she managed to let out was a confused, “Why didn’t you ever mention this?”

Anderson wasn’t very happy however, and quite defensive initially, “What was I supposed to say? ‘I could have been a Spectre but I blew it’? I failed, Commander. It’s not something I’m proud of. Ask me later and I’ll tell you the whole story. For now, all you need to know is I was sent on a mission with Saren, and he made sure the Council rejected me. I had my shot. It came and went. Now you have a chance to make up for my mistakes.”

Riley understood, and so she nodded slowly, “I won’t let you down, sir.”

Anderson collected himself before speaking again, “Saren’s gone. Don’t even try to find him. But we know what he’s after; the Conduit. He’s got his Geth scouring the Traverse looking for clues.”

“We had reports of Geth in the Feros system shortly before our colony there dropped out of contact. And there have been sightings around Noveria,” suggested Udina.

“Find out what Saren was after on Feros and Noveria. Maybe you can figure out where the Conduit is before he does.”

She knew that the Reapers were the real threat here, but if she stopped Saren from finding the Conduit, then she’d stop him from bringing back the Reapers. “Understood sir. Are there any other leads?”

“Two actually Commander,” said Udina. “Three Turian Frigates went missing in the Phaeron system of the Celestial Abyss. There was an attempted communication attempt that was cut off shortly after they arrived in the system.”

“Turian ships aren’t easy to destroy, especially not so quickly,” observed Riley. “But isn’t that on the edge of Council space?”

“It’s enough into the Terminus systems that the Council doesn’t have a permanent presence there, but close enough to Council space for them to monitor it,” clarified Anderson.

Udina cleared his throat, “We have one more lead. Matriarch Benezia, the other voice on that recording? She has a daughter, a scientist who specializes in Protheans. We don’t know if she’s involved, but it might be a good idea to try and find her. She what she knows. Her name’s Liara. Dr. Liara T’Soni. We have reports she was exploring an archeological dig on one of the uncharted worlds in the Artemis Tau cluster.”

With some careful thinking, Riley decided to go and investigate what happened to the three missing Frigates. The Normandy’s stealth systems would allow them to sneak in undetected and get a better look at whatever’s there. “I’ll start with the Celestial Abyss.”

“It’s your decision, Commander,” said Anderson. “You’re a Spectre now, you don’t answer to us.”

“But your actions still reflect on humanity as a whole. You make a mess and _I’ll_ get stuck cleaning it up,” said Udina, who felt so inclined to once more imply that he thought himself a great part of everything.

But she was in a good mood, and so she flashed him a polite smile “I’ll try not to make things any harder on you Ambassador.”

And yet, he didn’t quite shut up, “Glad to hear it, Commander. Remember, you were a human long before you were a Spectre.” He then added hastily without so much as a second’s pause, “I have a meeting to get to, Captain Anderson can answer any questions you might have.”

As Udina left, Riley had a discussion with Anderson about exactly what had happened with Saren. It had left her with an increased desire to see him brought to justice. As she turned back to face Garrus, Wrex and Tali, it was Garrus who spoke up, “So, three missing Turian frigates, any guesses on what it could be?”

“No idea Garrus,” said Riley as she turned to walk down the boarding ramp. “But I’m guessing we’re about to find out.”

“Keelah,” breathed Tali as she stood looking at the Normandy from the docks, leaning on one of the railings. “This is a _nice_ ship.”

“Sure beats the heck out of all the junkers I’ve caught rides on, but looks a little too fragile for my taste,” chuckled Wrex as he followed behind Riley.

“I don’t think we’re going to be ramming anything with it Wrex, but that doesn’t mean it’s _fragile_ ,” said Garrus as he walked behind the Krogan. Tali, who realized that they’d left her behind, stood up and jogged after them.

“ _Fragile_ ,” repeated Wrex for emphasis, as if Garrus’ statement proved his point further.

“But Wrex, we just got the ship,” countered Tali.

Before the conversation continued any further, Riley cut in, “Guys, no one’s ramming the ship into anything.” That about quieted things down. After entering the ship’s airlock and going through a decontamination cycle, Shepard made sure that Garrus, Tali and Wrex were situated before changing back into her Alliance ‘blues’ and heading toward the cockpit where Joker was. Garrus and Wrex were both in the cargo bay, while Tali was ‘geeking out’ over the ship’s drive core.

But Ashley spending most of her time down in the cargo bay might prove to be a concern, given her stance on aliens, especially Turians. But if that became a problem later, then she’d deal with it.

“I heard what happened to Captain Anderson,” said Joker as she approached the cockpit. “Survives a hundred battles, and then gets taken down by backroom politics. Just watch your back, Commander. Things go bad on this mission, you’re next on the chopping block.”

“Captain Anderson should be the one in charge. It’s like I’m stealing the ship from him,” said Shepard as she looked down at the Flight Lieutenant. 

“Yeah the Captain got _screwed_. But it’s not like you could’ve stopped it,” said Joker, doing his best to encourage her. But he was also being honest, and Riley appreciated Joker for his sometimes quite blunt honesty. She rubbed the back of her neck in nervous thought. “Nobody’s blaming you,” he added. “Everyone on this ship is behind you, Commander. One hundred percent.” There was a beep from one of the consoles which prompted Joker to inform her that the intercom was now open, something that was likely his doing, “Intercom’s open. If you’ve got something you want to say to the crew, now’s the time.”

She paused for a moment before she reached down and clicked on the mic, “This is Commander Shepard speaking. We have our orders, find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won’t lie to you crew. This mission isn’t going to be easy. This began with an attack on a human settlement in the Traverse. But we know Saren won’t stop there. His Geth armies aren’t going to stay on the far fringes of Citadel space. Our enemy knows we’re coming. Wherever he searches for the Conduit, we’ll be there. We will hunt him to the very ends of the galaxy and bring him down.”

She paused for a moment to let all that sink in, and then continued, “Humanity needs to do this. Not just for our sake, but for the sake of every other species in Citadel Space. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all…we _will_ stop him!” With that, she clicked off the mic and stood back up.

“Well said, Commander. Captain would be proud,” complemented Joker as he looked up from the Normandy’s controls to her.

“The Captain gave up everything so I could have this chance. We can’t fail,” she said, as she turned around to plot their next destination.

As she was leaving the cockpit, she heard Joker’s confident reply, “Yes ma’am.” Walking over the galaxy map in the CIC, she picked out the Phaeron system in the Celestial Abyss. As she started walking off to go and check on her crew, she felt the Normandy undock. This was it, the hunt for Saren had begun.

**_Several standard hours later_ **

“Entering the Phaeron system now, Commander,” said Joker as she stood over him in the cockpit. Shepard watched as the space around the Normandy returned back to the pitch-black void of space. “Engaging stealth systems now,” added Joker as she felt the ship begin its acceleration. They flew in silence for a minute before Joker piped again, “Whoa, something on the scanners, looks like a…” his voice trailed off as the object on the scanners could be seen through the cockpit viewport.

Ahead of them, the lifeless floating collection of debris that were once a ship could be seen. From what was left of the hull and the ‘wing’ like sections, it was quite clearly once a Turian frigate. ‘Well,’ she thought to herself, ‘At least they knew what had happed to the Turian ships.’ But as the ship moved past the debris, it was then that Shepard could see something enormous far, far ahead. This was so much more disconcerting, because if the ships could be seen at this distance, then they must’ve been _huge_.

As they moved past the wrecks, getting closer to the ships, the Normandy’s scanners resolved them picking up meaningful details. “Uh Commander, I’m picking up some strange readings. Like off the damn chart.”

“What am I looking at, Joker?” was all she barely managed to let out.

“Well uh, the smallest ship there is two point five kilometers long,” said Joker, sounding _very_ nervous. “And either the scanners are fried, or those ships don’t have any trace of element zero in them. Like, none.”

Riley was now very confused, what the hell kind of ship didn’t use eezo? Even the Geth, for all their advanced technology used eezo. Hell, even Saren’s ship had used eezo. But here she was, looking at these ships that made Saren’s look like an insect and made the Normandy look a speck in comparison. But looking at them, she had not the slightest shred of doubt that these were what were responsible for the devastation that she had witnessed earlier.

But she didn’t want to assume anything, she knew just how aggressive the Turians could be, and these ships clearly didn’t belong to any other species in the galaxy, though she didn’t want to deny any possibilities until she got in contact with their flagship. Based on size and tonnage alone, it was probably the massive twenty one kilometer long ship bristling with weapons from its prow to its keel. “Joker, can we uh… contact that ship?” she pointed to its holographic representation of the vessel.

A beeping sound from the Normandy’s communications unit almost made Shepard jump. “Well, too late, Commander,” said Joker as he looked back at the Normandy’s controls. Shepard sighed as she made her way toward the comm room. The crew gave her concerned looks, with Presley following her.

“Commander, is what we’re seeing really happening?” he asked her as they walked. “I mean…those ships are _huge_.”

“I don’t know Presley,” said Riley. “Just keep the crew together, I’m going to see what I can do about this.”

Presley stopped and snapped off a smart salute, “Aye ma’am. Got it.” With her taking over Anderson’s position, Presley took over hers, which made him the executive officer.

She finally entered the comms room and after taking a moment to steady her breathing and the storm sea of thoughts in her head, she activated the comms system which played the last message, “This is Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington of the Imperialis Armada. Alliance Vessel _Normandy_ , as soon as you get this message, your commanding officer is to speak with me directly. If you do not comply, or try to run, we’ll be forced to take lethal action.”

Interestingly the voice spoke in perfect English, the built in translator not picking up another language. Which meant that she’d probably either learnt it or…she spoke it natively. Shepard’s assumption was this was a new species which must’ve encountered the Turians and panicked, killing them. They could have also managed to salvage a translator from one of the ships, she and Joker had only seen the debris from two ships, and Udina had mentioned that there were three.

Her hand hovered over the transmit button for a whole minute as she considered the various options. Given just how easily it would seem that they were able to destroy the Turian ships, before they were even able to make contact with Hierarchy command, she very much doubted she’d be able to do much. In fact, she had _no_ other choice than to get back in contact with this ‘Lord Admiral’. Giving in, she clicked on the mic, “Lord Admiral Parrington, this is Commander Riley Shepard of the SSV Normandy. I understand you wanted to talk. Well…I’m here, so let’s talk.” She let go of the transmit button and waited.

A bated breath later, she got a response, “Commander Shepard, I request that we have this conversation in person, the things that I am about to discuss might require a more…human touch.”

She looked back at the small data readout, and indeed, she’d said ‘human’. It wasn’t a mistranslation, she had actually said ‘human’. Now Riley was even more confused. Were they human? If they were, how was that even possible. That sort of thing didn’t happen except in cheap science fiction and fanfiction of good science fiction. “I…I’m going to need coordinates…” she barely managed to let out, her mind still processing everything.

The Normandy’s comm system beeped once to signify that it received them. “I look forward to our meeting Commander.” With that, the line went dead. Riley Shepard let out a long sigh as she leaned on the control panel for a good minute before she walked back toward the cockpit.

As soon as she exited the room, Presley was waiting, “Any idea who they are, Commander?” he asked, several other members of the crew looked up from their stations as they waited for her answer.

“I have no idea Presley,” she said as she continued walking toward the cockpit. “But I intend on finding out.”

As she approached the cockpit Joker turned around in his seat, “So, what’s the plan, Commander? I hope those guys were nice, and said we could totally leave and pretend that nothing happened?” Riley was in no mood for jokes, so she just gave Joker a tired look. “Right, sorry. Heading to the coordinates they sent.”

The Normandy accelerated toward the large fleet looming ahead of them. As they approached, a trio of what looked to Shepard like gunboats approached. But based on their formation, Shepard could tell they were actually fighter craft. They were boxy, and had banks of some sort of weapons on their wings which were mounted close to the engines. There was another pair of wings closer to the nose, also sporting under slung weapons. Shepard could also make out a turret in the nose, which became more apparent as the three craft closed in. “Looks like they sent out a welcoming party,” sent Joker as he craned his neck to get a better look at the craft.

The craft turned around and split up, one heading off to flank each side of the Normandy, and one taking up position far behind it. They were boxing the Normandy in, clearly the ‘Lord Admiral’, as strange a title as that was, wasn’t taking any chances. But then again, what was she expecting from someone who claimed to be from an organization that called themselves the _Imperial Armada_. Which honestly reminded Shepard of a really old Sci-Fi fantasy movie which had a desperate alliance of rebels trying to defeat the tyrannical empire.

As they approached the first rank of ships, the first thing Shepard could make out was their strange construction. They had an odd, ribbed design, with an arrow shaped prow. Large barrels extruded out from gun ports in the side of the ship, and what looked to be point defense guns dotted the ship. The ship was about two point five kilometers long, as Joker had said, they were the smallest ships in the fleet.

“You know what’s bothering me, Commander?” asked Joker as they flew extremely close to one of these smaller ships, heading off in the direction of the largest ship in the fleet. “Is how did they find us with the stealth systems engaged? And it’s not like they could have seen the Normandy at that distance.”

Riley shrugged, “Your guess is as good as mine Joker. But I get the feeling that they may be a little better off than us when it comes to the waging war front.” By the sheer scale of their weapons, she assumed that they could blow the Normandy to hell effortlessly.

As they approached the flagship, Shepard noticed that it was like the other ships despite the disparity in size. It had the same ribbed construction, and even featured the same prow mounted weapon she’d seen on some of the other ships in the fleet. But up close, it was _terrifying_ , the prow mounted weapon alone was over three times the size of the Normandy. “Size isn’t everything you know, Commander,” said Joker. “Besides, these things don’t look nearly as nice. It’s like giant space…gothic…cathedral things. With engines. And guns. Lots of guns.”

She chuckled at the comparison as she reached for the intercom switch, “Just get us to the coordinates Joker.”

“On it Commander,” said Joker, becoming serious once more. Well, as serious as Joker could be. But that all vanished when he spoke again, “You know, if someone told me I was going to be landing a prototype stealth frigate on a massive space gothic cathedral, I’d have told them they were crazy. But hey, we’re chasing a Turian Spectre who flies around in a giant cuttlefish.”

Riley rolled her eyes as she clicked on the transmit button, “Ground team, this is Shepard, report to the briefing room ASAP.” With that, she turned around and headed back to the briefing room. The entire team arrived shortly afterward. She then explained to them what exactly had happened.

“So, _they’re_ the ones that blew up the Turian frigates?” asked Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams. Riley nodded once in response. “Damn, where were they during the First Contact War? No offense, Garrus.”

Garrus eyed her for a moment before saying, “None taken, Gunnery Chief.”

“What do they want, Shepard?” asked Kaidan. “I mean, why ask us to meet them if they could annihilate three Turian frigates so easily?”

“The Lieutenant does have a good point,” said Garrus. “Unless you’re packing some serious firepower, three Frigates wouldn’t be the easiest thing to kill.”

“You should go up front and take a look Garrus,” said Riley. “Might surprise you.” Garrus’ mandibles twitched once, but he said nothing.

“Well, if you want to show them some muscle, I’m your Krogan, Shepard,” offered Wrex. “Besides, anyone who kicked the Turians’ ass can’t be so bad.”

“Wow,” remarked Garrus dryly. “I’m really feeling the Turian love right about now.” Shepard had to agree with Garrus, there was a lot of anti-Turian sentiments being aired at the moment. Though, to be fair, both had at least semi-valid reasons to raise them.

“For what it’s worth Garrus, I only want to take my shotgun to _one_ Turian,” said Tali, very specifically talking about Saren.

“Thanks, Tali,” replied Garrus. “It’s nice to feel so loved.”

“Who’re you taking with you Shepard? And what about the rest of us?” asked Kaidan, bringing the discussion back on topic.

“Wrex, Tali, you, Garrus and I will step off once we land,” she said. “So grab your gear and meet me at the airlock in five.” She then turned to Ashley, “Ash, I’m going to need you to ready your gear and gather some of the Marines. If something goes wrong, I’m going to need you to pull our asses out of the fire. Let’s move people.”

“Got it, Commander,” said Ashley as she stood to her feet, snapping off a smart salute as she headed out of the room.

“Are you sure that bringing along Garrus is the best idea?” asked Kaidan once Garrus, Wrex and Tali had walked off.

“I don’t think they have anti-Turian feelings as much as it was a misunderstanding, that’s why bringing Garrus, Tali and Wrex should help to clear things up,” she answered.

“Got It, Commander,” said Kaidan as he began walking to the exit. “But I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Shepard scoffed, “Yeah…you and me both.” Five minutes later, as planned, she, Garrus, Wrex, Tali and Kaidan were waiting in the cargo bay. Weapons were holstered, but kept within reach. She’d given strict instructions that they were not to draw their weapons unless fired on first.

“Coming in for a landing now, Commander,” announced Joker over the ship’s intercom. It wouldn’t be long now, and she shared a concerned look with Kaidan before she felt the ship stop moving; they’d landed. “Touchdown. Atmosphere’s breathable, about the same as you’d expect on an Alliance vessel, but a lot closer to an actual planets’. Good luck, ma’am.”

“Yeah,” scoffed Kaidan. “I think we’re going to need it.” None of them knew what to expect as the cargo bay door started lowering with a hydraulic hiss. As the ramp lowered, she had a better view of the hangar. She could make our bays with the same ‘fighters’ that had escorted them earlier docked inside. Once the ramp had fully lowered however, she had an excellent view of the welcoming group.

There were two distinct groups of soldiers, one set wore heavy grey armor and had helmets with a red slit serving as a visor. They had a variety of weapons in their hands, from flamethrowers to big multi-barreled weapons with ammunition feeds snaking up to a pack on their back. Others still held rifle sized weapons of two types, the end of both weapons’ barrels had heat damage on it, making Riley come to the conclusion that they were possibly energy weapons. After all, she’d seen many things she’d thought impossible today.

The next group numbered less than the first, coming in at six where the first group was ten. They were _huge_ , they weren’t so much soldiers as they were drones. But they looked far deadlier than anything she’d seen. Their black visors were down right intimidating, the fact that they looked like they could knock a Krogan down with a single swipe was bad enough. The weapons in their hands varied, two carried massive long barreled weapons with heat damage on the end of the barrels, two carried shorter but no less bulky weapons with coils around the barrel and what looked like a chainsaw bayonet slung underneath. The final two carried weapons that glowed, energy pulsing under what she surmised were cooling coils of some sort.

At the end of all these guards were four individuals. But, as she had suspected earlier, they were human. She wasn’t even going to try and justify how it happened. There was a lot to take in already. One of them wore armor like his guards, but without the helmet. She could see a sword of all things, secured in a sheath that was hanging from his waist and a high tech looking weapon in a holster on his hip. He was tall too, around 6 feet and a couple inches if she was to guess. The man had parted greying brown hair, as well as handlebar mustache of the same color. Of all things, he had a gold rimmed monocle.

The next person was a woman, wearing what looked to be a lighter version of the armor the man standing beside her wore, with a more segmented look. The plating was colored an almost regal blue, and her ‘uniform’ had gold colored epaulets. Her rank badge was displayed proudly on the right of her chest plate. Her helmet was attached to her belt, allowing Riley to make out her well defined facial features as well as her darker, almost light chocolate skin tone. She had short black hair, the tips of which reached up to her armor’s epaulets. She had a large pistol in an elaborate dark holster strapped to her thigh, and like the other man she could see a sword sitting in elaborately worked scabbard affixed to the left side of her hip.

The next man wore a brown cloak over a chest piece of some sorts. Shepard could see a large pistol sitting in an oversized holster on his waist. On one arm he hand simple fingerless gloves, but on the other he had a gauntlet that projected a holographic interface around it, much like an omnitool. He had dark skin and a shaven head and was clean shaven. She could also make out brown eyes.

The third…person, was very different from the rest. For one, he was _huge_. He was easily taller than any of his ‘guards’, something Riley thought wasn’t even possible. If they looked like they could deck a Krogan, he looked like he could _squash_ one. The more she looked at him, the more she wanted to describe his body as a robotic chassis, with two massive weapons ‘stowed’ on its back and a _huge_ two barreled weapon on its shoulder that had an ammunition feed that snaked over to its back, no doubt to an ammunition feed. Two smaller arms extended from the torso, and it regarded everything with a singular red cyclopean eye.

As an infiltrator, she was trained to make observations quickly, so even while she was doing this, she wasn’t standing around looking like a complete and utter idiot.

The woman in the armor that resembled naval uniform turned to the heavily armored man and whispered something that she couldn’t quite make out, causing a smile to form on the man’s face. She then turned to Shepard, her eyes studying each of her comrades before she said, “Commander Shepard, allow me to welcome you aboard the _Fist of Judgment_.”

“You speak English,” stammered out Shepard. “And fairly well, I might add-” However based on her accent, which she noted to be slightly English, she surmised that this was the Lord Admiral Parrington that she’d spoken to earlier.

Before she had the chance to finish her sentence the more heavily armored man spoke, and strangely enough with an English accent of sorts even though he didn’t speak the language, “So that’s what they call this dreadful thing, is it?”

“Dear, don’t interrupt our guests,” teased the Lord Admiral, smiling very slightly before turning back to her. “My apologies commander, we don’t happen to speak the language natively.”

“If you don’t speak the language natively, then how are you speaking it so-” started Shepard before someone cut her off again. This time it was the man in the brown cloak.

 “Translators,” clarified the man as he tapped the side of his head. “We’ve got neural implants that make it unnecessary for me to actually learn the language in the traditional sense.”

“Now, Commander, as much as I love my ship’s hangar bay, would you not prefer to move this conversation somewhere a little more comfortable?”  asked Lord Admiral Parrington.

Riley thought for a moment, if they wanted them dead, they’d have blown the Normandy to hell and back. If for some reason they hadn’t done that, then the heavily armed and armored drones and soldiers in front of them could probably have done the job. “Alright, lead the way.”

Two of the large robot things and four of the soldiers split off from the group and headed away, with the Lord Admiral and her three compatriots walking with Shepard and her team. As they walked through the hangar, she saw things she’d expect to see in any ship that carried smaller craft; mechanics working on craft and pilots heading to their craft to leave on patrols.

They then witnessed something so strange that Riley had never imagined she’d ever see. Passing them, were a group of huge humanoid beings. They looked like something out of a vid with huge bulging muscles and big heads. They had large claw like implements on the end of their arms. They were wearing armor similar to what the soldiers moving with them were wearing, except larger for obvious reasons. One of them, who seemed to be leading the others, brought his hand up in a strange imitation of a salute as he passed the Lord Admiral and the Lord Marshall, “Boffs.”

“Well that’s something you don’t see every day,” said Kaidan, craning his neck to look at the thuggish huge beings as they walked by.

“Yeah,” scoffed Riley, eyes widening for a moment. “Tell me about it.”

“Now those guys are even bigger than you are Wrex,” said Garrus, as he looked from the large creatures to Wrex. Wrex didn’t say anything, instead he just grunted.

“Don’t worry about the Ogryn,” said Operative Arold, turning his head around to look at Shepard and crew. “They’re harmless unless you order them to kill something, or if you threaten whoever they’re protecting.”

“Good to know,” said Tali quickly, clearly having been made uneasy by the Ogryn. Riley thought it to be quite the fitting name; they did kind of look like ogres after all.

The soldiers stopped outside a door, which one of them then opened via a keypad beside the door. As they entered the room, Shepard could tell that it was an officer’s room of some sorts, though the sign above the door probably said that as well. But quite honestly, this was the best officer’s lounge she’d ever been inside.

“Do not mind me, I need a moment to negotiate this door,” came the very masculine sounding voice from the large robot looking thing that was standing beside the Lord Admiral in the hangar.

“Perhaps the service entrance, dear fellow?” offered the man in the heavier armor. “It really might fit you better.”

“A most logically sound proposition,” said the robot, as he and his guards went around presumably to the service entrance that was being talked about. Riley paid the matter no more regard and entered the room.

Wooden paneling, a large bar, plush furniture and all in an older more classical style that they seemed to prefer. They were soon seated, with Shepard and her crew on one couch and the others on another facing it. “There,” said Lord Admiral Parrington. “Do you want to get started, Commander?”

“Dear,” said Lord Marshall Lissie, nudging her ever so slightly. “Don’t you want to offer our guests some refreshments?”

A smile crossed the Admiral’s face, “Of course, what an excellent idea. Bertie why don’t you be a good chap and bring out our selection won’t you? Nothing for the Turian or the Quarian of course, we don’t have anything for dextro based species, don’t want to take chances now, do we?” Bertie let out a sigh and gave Shepard and Kaidan a tired look, walking over to the bar to fetch the tray on which their best sprits were placed. She turned back to face Shepard, “Now, perhaps it’s time you introduced your comrades to us, Commander.”

Bertie at this time came back with the tray, holding it like an expert as he placed it on the solid wood table between them. Riley decided that she would start with Kaidan, who was sitting on her left incidentally, “Well, this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. Kaidan’s usually on away teams with me.” Kaidan nodded in response. “To Lieutenant Alenko’s left is Tali’Zorah nar Rayya. She’s a Quarian tech expert serving with us.” Tali waved an awkward four fingered hello. “To my right is Urdnot Wrex. He’s a Krogan mercenary helping us with our current mission.” Wrex just grunted. “To Wrex’s right, is Garrus Vakarian. C-sec officer helping us track down a dangerous fugitive.”

“And then allow me to say that it is a pleasure to meet with you all,” said Lord Admiral Parrington, a genuinely warm smile on her face. It was about then that loud footfalls could be heard, as well as the clinking of glasses as the massive robot thing she’d seen earlier walked into the room. “Ah, Hypax, good to see you could join us at last.”

“The service entrance proved to be most truculent, your drinks servitors are quite meddlesome,” it said as it stopped behind where the Lord Admiral was seated. “Nothing I couldn’t handle of course.”

“Better than staying in the corridor, isn’t it?” she said, looking at him before she returned her gaze back to Shepard. “Now, allow me to introduce Archmagos Reductor Hypax of the Ordo Reductor. Hypax has served alongside Bertie and I for a long time now. On my right is Lord Marshall Bertie Lissie, commanding officer of the 21st Expeditionary Force’s Saturnyne Rams contingent. To his right is Operative Raynod Arold, information analyst and specialist sent from Terra.”

The look of confusion on their faces must have been obvious enough, that Lord Marshall immediately said, “Perhaps something to drink? We’ve got the best single malt distilled on Terra, or some of the best red wine in the entire Saturnyne Ordo.”

Riley didn’t recognize either of those names, but she gave the Lord Admiral a polite smile, “I’m afraid we’re going to have to decline, Lord Admiral.”

“Nothing, perhaps just some water then? It’d be rather unfortunate if we found we’re this terrible at entertaining guests, now wouldn’t it Bertie?” said the Lord Admiral, turning to Lord Marshall Lissie.

“Well perhaps some tea is in order then,” said Bertie, his eyes lighting up with the very idea. “After all, nothing like some tea to get everyone in good spirits for a tough conversation.”

“I’m sure the commander nor her companions are tea drinkers, dear,” said Lord Admiral Parrington, giving him a sympathetic look.

Riley couldn’t help but smile, and she had a strong feeling that the two officers were definitely in a relationship, if not married. “If you don’t mind me asking, are the two of you…” she asked, her voice trailing off as she tried to find the right words.

“Married?” asked Lord Marshall Lissie, turning his head in Shepard’s direction. He took the Lord Admiral’s hand in his and after turning and looking into her eyes turned back to face Riley, “We’ve been happily married for over a hundred years now, Commander.”

A look of surprise was plastered over all four of their faces. Had he said _over_ a hundred years? As far as she knew, no one really lived that long, even with the genetic modifications that Alliance Officers and Marines received. Forget being _married_ for over a hundred years. “I’m sorry, did you say _over_ a hundred years?” asked Riley, sounding very confused indeed.

“There’s a lot of things about us that you’ll find strange, Commander,” said Lord Admiral Parrington. “It’s why we’d like to apologize for destroying those ships. We didn’t understand exactly what they were saying at the time, and our…unique circumstances meant that we’re not used to having pleasant encounters with…well, simply put, aliens.”

She realized that was mostly meant for Garrus, who seemed a little more at ease now that it had been said. “Understandable,” she said. “But you mentioned unique circumstances. Just what might those be?”

All four of the people in front of them shared a look before the Lord Admiral turned back to face Shepard, “Tell me, Commander, what year is it?”

“2183,” responded Riley immediately, as if it was the obvious answer.

“Not where we came from,” said Arold, a frown forming on his face and suddenly piping up. “Where we came from, it’s 005.M31. Or 31005 according your date-time format.”

That statement hit her like a ton of bricks, that was twenty eight thousand eight hundred eight twenty two years in the future. What had happened to the galaxy between then and now.  “But…how?” she asked, really that was all she managed to let out. She didn’t need to look at the others to know they were shocked. If a single person had told her this, she might have called them on it. Even a group. But when she was looking at a ship full of humans who didn’t speak any known human language natively and had technology as powerful as this, she had no choice but accept the truth.

And so, it was explained to them. The Imperium of Man. The freakish dimension known as the Warp, which was so necessary for everything from communication to faster than light travel. How the Emperor launched a massive crusade to reunite the lost colonies of man as a result of the ‘warp storms’. How he created genetic sons to lead armies of super human warriors who led the armies of the Imperium on their crusades. Then the betrayal of his favorite son, and the reason for this task force. Then, what had finally happened to them. Arold explained that arriving many years before or after when you left for your destination, but they never imagined that what had happened to them was even possible.

But then it was Shepard’s turn to explain, but she didn’t have to say much, they’d found a fair bit of information. They were very vocal in their offers to both Tali to aid the Quarians with the Geth, and Wrex in enlisting the Krogan as support. Wrex scoffed and told them that they’d have to unite the scattered and constantly warring Krogan clans first. Their disapproval of the Council was something that was mirrored by even Shepard and her team.

But that was when Shepard saw an opportunity. She’d come here on her hunt for Saren, and here she had people who’d understand the threat that Saren represented. On mentioning of Saren and his plans to bring back the Reapers, she was faced with stunned faced which were followed by hushed whispers before an offer of aid. They offered to dispatch a team of their best operatives with her to aid her in her task, discreetly. According to the Lord Admiral, revealing themselves to the galaxy at this point could cause much chaos.

Riley agreed, and that wasn’t even taking into account the reaction the council would have at a group of humans who don’t obey their rules, and are far, far more powerful than they are. She had no doubt that the Imperium would be able to carve apart the entire Citadel defense fleet with no problems, possibly even with just their flagship.

And so it was decided, due to the urgency of Shepard’s mission, she would depart with the operatives now while Alliance officials would arrive later to discuss cooperation in more detail. Tali clarified that she wasn’t in any position in Quarian society to guarantee anything, but would try her best. With that, the meeting was adjourned and Shepard and crew returned to the Normandy to await the arrival of their latest crewmembers.

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

After the meeting, the three of them had retreated to the bridge to discuss matters further. Once she’d made sure that their guests were preoccupied with taking on their three new passengers and their cargo of course. “How can you trust this Shepard so much, she surrounds herself with xenos, what makes you think that she won’t rat us out to her council?” asked Hypax, barely keeping the anger from his voice.

“Because I see the same conviction in Shepard’s eyes I saw in few other people’s,” said Thalia, turning and looking at him. “Where we come from, they want us dead, and we can scarcely kill them fast enough. Here? It’s not the same, peace can be had Hypax, and _she_ is the key to that peace.” She let out a sigh, “That’s not to say we won’t ensure that man here is ready to take its place as rulers of the stars, we just don’t have to wipe everyone else out.”

Hypax was silent, and Bertie looked at him with a proud look on his face, “I married a very wise woman. We can’t afford to get involved in a galaxy spanning war, especially not if Shepard’s right about what’s coming. Now, Shepard needs all the help she can get, and we need her good word to make sure we can work with her superiors to forge humanity’s rightful place in the stars. It will do us no good to waste our precious resources fighting these xenos species while an even greater threat waits in the void.”

Hypax ‘nodded’, “My apologies then. There is a reason I have always needed the two of you to reign in my choler. I will order my ship to jump back in-system, then I will see about our production capacity. As you both have said, there is a storm coming, and I believe we will need it.” He paused for a moment and then said, “Also, scans have just come back, the planet we are orbiting is an adequate site for a production facility and a base of operations. Once we meet with this ‘Alliance’, I will send some scouts down.”


	3. Assassins, Negotiations, Revelations and the Scientist

**Clade Vanus Operative Raynod Arold**

"Whoa," said Shepard as she walked down the ramp, now having changed back into her Alliance uniform. "That's a lot of gear, Operative Arold."

Ray looked behind him at the servitors carrying a cage with his eyerats and secure vacuum sealed containers containing his spare netflies. There were other boxes that contained a portable generator, and a field cogitator unit. This was not to mention a spare set of carapace plates, and ammunition for his Ikanos pattern silenced bolt pistol.

The servitors behind them were carrying more cases, this time belonging to his fellow Officio Assassinorum operatives. The boxes contained spares and ammunition. But his two comrades were carrying everything else they had and needed on their person. He also knew know that Archmagos Hypax had made a contribution to both Meyek and Meghann's equipment stock.

The Adeptus Mechanicus was the sole supplier of equipment to the Assassin clades after all. Each assassin was trained in maintaining their own equipment, but that didn't mean that any of the clades had any manufacturing capability of their own. "Ray's fine, Commander," he said with a smile. "And on and extended operation like this, it's exactly what we need. Don't want to have to keep coming back here to pick up gear."

Shepard nodded, "Alright Ray, point taken, I can see how that would become inconvenient quickly. Not to mention suspicious to the Council." She then probably realized that she'd left the servitors and him standing in front of the ramp and then hastily added, "Come on in."

Ray nodded and he walked up the ramp, reaching where Shepard stood while the servitors rolled aboard the Normandy. "That area near the lockers free?" he asked, pointing it out to Shepard. It was close to one of the entrances to the engine room, but was better than moving their gear near that Mako IFV.

"Yeah, Wrex might have to move up a bit, but I'm sure that he won't mind," replied Shepard with a smile. Ray pointed out the area to the servitors, who, one by one began placing the crates down in an easy to access manner. The thing about cargo servitors was that they were very good at doing one thing, moving cargo. Storing things in a way that made it easy to access was in their programming.

"Well, I hope not," he said as the servitors left the Normandy. "I'd hate to have to piss him off." Krogan were prone to blood rage, and that was something that he didn't want to have to try and face, even if he was fairly confident that his bolt pistol would probably stop a charging Krogan.

Shepard laughed, "Well you tell Wrex, that if he has a problem, to talk to me about it."

Ray nodded as he began walking over to one of the crates, specifically the one with his field cogitators in them, with Shepard in tow. He keyed in the unlock code and then pried open the lid. Ray looked up from the box, "Commander, I'm going to need a power conduit."

"I'm sure Tali can get one rigged up for you," said Shepard, looking curiously at the cogitator as he pulled it out of his case and after closing the lid, placed the cogitator on top. It was then that Bloodwing flew in through the cargo bay entrance and landed atop his shoulder, quite silently and unnoticeable if not for the fact that it was fairly large eagle.

Bloodwing cawed loudly, though thanks to the mental link he shared with the creature he knew just what he was saying. "I wasn't going to leave without you, Blood," he said. "Besides, if you go wandering off at the last moment what am I supposed to do?" He could've called Bloodwing back at any time, but he decided to let the bird take his time. That didn't stop him from bitching about the said taking of time.

Shepard chuckled, but then frowned as she realized that he was actually talking to Bloodwing, "I'll admit, I have no idea how some of your technology works, but I didn't think you could speak eagle."

It was a joke of course, Shepard was not stupid enough to assume that communication on that level was possible with any amount of technology with a non-sentient species. So, he obligingly let out a short laugh, "No, Commander, Bloodwing and I share a cybernetic link. I share his senses and he follows my commands. Infiltrating systems is complicated enough without someone trying to put a bullet into your ass."

Shepard let out a knowing laugh, "Yeah, tell me about it. So, he's a working animal then? I'm going to assume he's trained to cope with combat situations. Because the only kind of pets that are allowed aboard are fish."

"I assure you, Commander," he said as he stroked under Bloodwing's chin. "Bloodwing's combat trained like you've never seen before. I've seen him tear someone's eyes out before. Yes, he has some basic needs, but this isn't the first ship I've been on. I'll make sure it isn't a problem."

"Alright, Ray, don't worry about it," said Shepard, holding her hands up as a sign she was dropping the matter. "And by the way, drop the whole 'Commander' thing. Shepard's fine." Understandable, even if she didn't think using her rank was appropriate seeing as he his fellow assassins weren’t part of the Alliance, they still weren't on a first name basis.

"Alright, Shepard," he said, nodding once. With that, he began opening the crate containing the feed for the eyerats. Bloodwing had eaten before they got on the ship and so didn't need feeding. He began dropping the minimal waste rations into the cage, watching the eyerats descend on it like a pack of…well, rats. Following that, he walked over to the case that contained the universal charging unit that could recharge all power supply units used by the Imperium's forces.

"Oh, one more thing!" said Shepard as she turned around suddenly. "So, you guys have your own equipment and all, and I get that. But I was wondering if you guys needed some stuff. Hard suits for use in a vacuum. Kinetic barriers?"

"Well, with the equipment worn by Meyek and Meghann, a void suit would only harm their capabilities," he said. "And if I need to come down on a combat operation, and I need to be wearing a void suit, then something's gone really, really wrong. But those…kinetic barriers, might be useful. If you can get us three of those, I'll see about integrating it with our gear."

"I'll see if I can get you guys a variant of what I use," said Shepard nodding. "Something that won't ruin infiltration capabilities by driving up thermal signature." She then paused for a moment before adding, "So Meyek and Meghann are their names, huh? That's uh…fairly normal actually," admitted Shepard.

"What were you expecting Shepard?" asked Ray as he sat himself down on one of the cases.

"Not very sure to be quite honest with you," said Shepard shrugging. There was a moment of silence before she spoke again, "I guess this is the point where I say that I should probably go?"

"And find Tali?" asked Ray, then nodding slowly. "Probably a good idea, Shepard."

With that, Shepard was about to walk off when another voice was heard from behind him, "Are you looking for me, Shepard?" Looking around Shepard, he could see the Quarian, Tali approaching.

"Tali!" exclaimed Shepard as she turned around quickly, obviously having been caught off guard by the Quarian. "Well, Ray here wanted your help to find a power conduit."

Tali activated her omnitool, something which Ray noticed was very similar to his cogitator gauntlet in function. "Well," she said after looking up from her omnitool. "There is that runs right under where you are set up Ray. If you want, I can try and help you connect everything up."

“Only if it’s not going to take away from your other duties,” he said, trying to be polite as he flashed her a smile of the same nature.

“No, no,” replied Tali, waving him off. “I’m done in there anyway.” But her gaze wasn’t hiding her interest in the cogitator or the charging unit at all.  To Ray, this was harmless, she couldn’t try and scan the equipment without him noticing in any case.

Ray shrugged, “Sure then, I suppose we better start by removing this grate?” He got off the case and knelt down to remove the grate above the conduit that Tali pointed out.

“That would certainly help,” replied Tali, causing Ray to chuckle as he pried open the grate. “Now we just have to get some cables and we should be ready to start.” A while later, he had helped Tali snake two cables through the grate after cutting a hole in It to fit a metallic cable seal to snake the cable through. Tali had managed to snake smaller cable from the main conduit up through the hole they had made in the grate drawing only as much power both the cogitator and the universal charger required after Ray had given her the power specifications.

“It’s nice to work with someone who knows what they’re doing for a change,” said Tali, from her tone Ray assumed she might have been smiling under her mask.

“I pride myself in knowing at least this much, you’re not going to get this kind of support out in the field,” he said, smiling confidently. He then quickly added, “I’m a field operative, that’s why I carry this…” he tapped the grip of his silenced Ikanos pattern Bolt Pistol for emphasis. Bloodwing cawed from where he was perched on one of the nearby cases. “Bloodwing over there watches my back. Something he thinks he needs to remind me about.”

“Hmmm, that’s a good idea…maybe I should get something like that…thought I doubt I’d be able to take it back to the fleet. Maybe I’ll leave it with Shepard…” thought Tali out loud, causing Ray to chuckle.

“Bloodwing and I are connected via cybernetic implants, I share his senses and he follows my commands,” clarified Ray.

“Ah,” said Tali, nodding once. A slightly awkward silence permeated the air for a moment before Tali stood up. “Well…I’d better get going. It was nice working with you Ray.”

Ray nodded, “It was nice working with you too.” Ray watched Tali leave for a moment before the cogitator beeping to life caught his attention. A caw from Bloodwing caught his attention, “Shut up bird brain, who asked you.”

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov, around forty five minutes later**

Meyek was walking toward the ship in the hangar alongside Meghann. This would be the first time either of them would be working alongside xenos, heck, probably any of them really. The xenos in their galaxy were all really out to kill humanity for their own reasons, some mysterious and others brutally simple. Meyek of course, didn't think this would be so bad, so far the only xenos here that seemed to be deserving of being unquestioningly shot in the face were the Batarians, Vorcha and the Geth. The Quarians seemed to be suffering for their mistake and shooting them would actually be putting them out of their misery, but from what he had read it seemed like it was a mistake made by a small sect of them that the rest of them were suffering for.

But Meghann didn't agree with this assessment, she still fully expected them to betray humanity at the earliest convenience, only for Meyek to cite the last so many years of humanity's existence in this galaxy as proof of the flaws in her theory. To which she replied that there was still time. "I'm just saying," he said, holding his hands up in defense. "We should give them a chance. Maybe it'll work out."

"Perhaps it will or perhaps it won't," she said, still fervent in her opinion. "Either way I'm not willing to find out."

"We're going to be stuck on a ship with them," replied Meyek. "You're going to have to be 'pleasant' in the least."

"I'm more than capable of putting on a façade," returned Meghann. "Don't worry about me making an incorrect impression. Worry about yourself Meyek. As far as I know, you're clade doesn't train it's operatives in dealing with social situations." Ouch, that was a personal jab if anything. Then again, Callidus did know how to get you right between the ribs.

"Alright, alright," he said, letting out a sigh that. "I get your point." When the turned back to look ahead of him he could see a woman in Systems Alliance fatigues standing on the ramp of the Normandy. Based on what he'd been briefed on by Ray, this was Commander Shepard herself.

If the Commander noticed their brief argument, she said nothing. "You two must be Meghann and Meyek. I'm Commander Shepard. It's nice to finally meet you. Ray's told me a lot about the two of you."

"All good things, I'm hoping?" asked Meghann, her tone jovial. Meyek couldn't tell if she was being genuine or not. Then again, the Commander was human.

Shepard laughed. "Of course. Very good things." She nodded to where Ray was already set up, to the rear right side of the cargo bay. "He's already got to work as you can see."

"That's Ray," said Meyek, smiling under his spy mask and speaking in his usual jovial tone. "Always trying to keep busy."

Shepard nodded, "Alright. So your gear is with Ray, sleeping pods are upstairs if you need them. I'll be holding briefing for the ground team on our next mission that I'll require you two to attend. Other than that, you're free to do whatever you want." She then frowned slightly as looked at their synskin suits, "You guys have anything else to wear on board?"

"Well no, not really," said Meyek, shrugging. "Why, is it too…distracting?" he asked.

"Well…" said Shepard as she looked over both him and Meghann. "Yeah…sort of. I'll tell you what, we have spare Alliance uniforms. How about I get you two a pair? Once we're on the Citadel, we can get you whatever you want. Sounds fair?"

Meyek didn't care, so he looked at Meghann, "Is there a problem with us carrying weapons?" she asked.

"Technically I'd have to ask you to restrict it to a sidearm, but I'm not actually your commanding officer, so I technically can't even force you to wear a uniform instead of your…suits," replied Shepard.

"A sidearm it is," said Meyek, nodding quickly. Shepard was right, they didn't have to cooperate with her, but they had nothing to lose from cooperating. Meghann nodded in agreement.

"Thanks guys," said Shepard, giving them both a warm smile. "I know it's new and Ray says it will be more uncomfortable than what you're wearing no matter how well it's made." Well, Meyek hadn't worn much else in his life, but he was sure Meghann was used to all sorts of attire. She was showing it too, she didn't seem to care at all.

"Glad to be of assistance," said Meghann, giving Shepard a respectful nod.

"Alright then," said Shepard "I left you guys a couple sets near the lockers," she added, jerking her thumb back to where to duffle bags sat near the lockers. "Meeting starts in about fifteen, some point during which, we should be well on our way."

"Got it, Commander," replied Meyek as he began walking over to the lockers, Meghann in tow.

He then heard Shepard call out after them, "And you can drop the whole Commander thing. Shepard's fine." Meyek stuck his thumb up. As he heard Shepard's footsteps recede he opened the bag, finding a pair of blue fatigues identical to what he'd seen the crew wearing.

He was about to take the bag to the second deck and use the crew restrooms to change into it when he heard a voice from beside him, "Okay, I got to ask. What's with the fancy suits? I mean, I saw some of your guys had hard suits. So…why not use those?"

Meyek turned to his right to see a human solder, female, in black red armor that head what looked to Meyek like heavy plating. "Because Saturnyne-pattern Enhanced Void Hardened Carapace Armor can't do this," said Meyek as he suddenly vanished into thin air. "And I can do this all day too, no power supply required."

"Now that is fancy as hell," said the woman looking at where Meyek was a moment ago. "Does yours do that too?" she asked Meghann, only for the Callidus to vanish as well. "Damn, that is really fancy. I guess that means having it stick to every part of your body isn't so bad."

"Only if you've got something to hide," said Meghann as she reappeared. With one hand she removed her mask, he neatly tied brown hair falling out. She extended her hand out to the woman, "Operative Lestourgen, Clade Callidus. However, Meghann is fine."

Each assassin's name mattered very little in their own galaxy when they were little more than ghosts. But in this galaxy when no one even knew who they were or what the organization they worked for was capable of, it mattered even less. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," said the woman, taking Meghann's hand and giving it a firm shake. "It's nice to see humanity still kicks ass where you're from."

As she let go of her hand, Meghann smiled, "Of course Gunnery Chief. We're a resilient, determined species. We do not give up hope so easily."

"Ain't that the truth," remarked Williams, nodding before she turned toward him, or rather, where he was standing. "Didn't get your name."

He responded by waving rather animatedly at her after reappearing exactly where he had disappeared, "Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov, waiting to kick ass." Meghann was smiling, but she rolled her eyes at his antics. The three of them had gotten quite used to each other's tendencies.

Williams let out a small laugh. "Ha, you're a funny guy. You fight as well as you talk?" she asked, not meaning any offense as far as Meyek could make out.

"Better actually, but I'll just have to show you now, won't I?" he said with a smile.

Williams shook her head, "Whatever you say Meyek, whatever you say." With that, Meyek walked off toward the elevator that would presumably take him to the second deck. Before long, the Vindicare stepped out from the men's restroom, clad in the Systems Alliance uniform.

Meyek had his synskin suit nearly folded while he held his load bearing harness and his rifle by its sling in the other hand. He had his Exitus pistol in its holster, which was hanging off the belt fastened around his waist, along with several spare magazines. His monomolecular edged combat knife was likewise in its sheath, which was fastened around his calf.

The sound of the women's restroom door made him turn his head turn, and he saw Meghann standing there. "Looks like you made that uniform work," he said, smiling.

She gave him a confused look, "This is how it's meant to be worn Meyek."

"Some people look nice in anything," said Meyek, giving her a cheeky grin. He never meant anything by his blatant attempt to flirt, and she knew it. She rolled her eyes as she began walking up the stairs to the first deck. "What?" he asked as he followed behind her.

"Just…never mind," said Meghann as they made their way up, reaching the first deck fairly quickly. Meghann tapped the hololithic pane on the door to open it, and the door hissed open. In Meyek's opinion, as convenient as they were, he surmised in an emergency situation they wouldn't be as convenient.

As they entered, Meyek could see all of Shepard's team and Ray already seated. "Ah, Meyek, Meghann, glad to see you made it." She then paused for a moment as she realized that most of her team were giving her confused looks. "Right, so, uh…Meyek and Meghann are going to be joining us on our hunt for Saren. Meyek's a sniper, and Meghann's an infiltration specialist." As she completed her sentence she looked to Ray for confirmation, who nodded reassuringly.

Shepard then pointed out her squad mates, "That's Garrus, Tali, Wrex, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and I assume you've already met Chief Williams, because she's the only one not giving me a confused look right now."

"That's a nice gun, but isn't it a little big for you?" asked Wrex, chuckling. In truth his Exitus pistol was massive, just barely smaller than the Astartes issued Bolt Pistols, only it was far sleeker and lighter. But anyone without his enhanced musculature who tried to fire the weapon would likely break every bone in their arm, any regular human that was.

At seven-feet even, Wrex was a good eight inches taller than Meyek, but Meyek wasn't scared of someone just because they were bigger than him. He'd killed Orks a lot larger than Wrex. "I'd offer to let you take a couple shots with it Wrex," said Meyek. "But it only fires in my hands." One of the features he requested for when his weapons were made was to be able to remotely lock down the weapon's firing mechanism.

"Heh, smart man," said Wrex, giving him what Meyek thought was the Krogan equivalent of a smile. "Nothing worse than carrying around a weapon like that and having someone else shoot you with it."

"They'd have to take it from me first," said Meyek, a cheeky grin forming on his features once more. It was interesting to note for Meyek, that none of the xenos members seemed to be wary of Meghann, Ray or him. He just passed it off as good negotiating, he'd learned not to question things that worked for his good unless they seemed too good to be true, and this didn't seem so. Just because the Imperium was anti-xeno, and for good reason, it didn't mean that any and all Galactic Civilizations were.

That was when Shepard cleared her throat, "Moving on. We're not far from the area that Admiral Kahoku's missing Marines were last heard from. I'm taking a team to check it out, any volunteers?" She looked at Meyek and Meghann before adding, "Sealed suits with self-contained air supplies will be needed."

Meyek shrugged, "Sure, looking for missing Marines…I mean, something scary must've taken them out, right?" He knew that these Marines weren't exactly the Space Marines of his galaxy, but from what Ray had said, more of a term for Naval armsman.

"Alright, now since that's our guests sorted out. Garrus, Wrex and Tali? You have any objections to joining in?" asked Shepard as she looked at the aforementioned members of her team.

"Nope," replied Wrex. Wrex didn't seem to care, just content with the fact that he was potentially going to be able to shoot something.

"No," said Tali. "Not unless the plan is for us to face down a Geth Cruiser on our own."

"Well, it's never in the plan, but that just might end up happening, Tali," replied Garrus.

"Thanks Garrus, you make me feel so much better," said Tali, sarcasm dripping from each and every word."

"Alright," said Shepard, quieting everyone down. "Dismissed. Grab your gear and meet me in the cargo bay in 30 minutes, that's around when we'll be arriving on Edolus."

_Normandy's cargo bay, thirty minutes later_

Meyek exited the elevator out into the Normandy's cargo bay, he was back in his synskin suit, his Exitus rifle slung across his back and fully prepped for combat. He could see Garrus and Tali talking on one side of the Mako, with Wrex leaning on the other. Even from here, he could catch the conversation going on, "Light Collossus armor, nice…looks like Shepard really sprung for the best," said Garrus.

"You too Garrus, I've never seen those weapons anywhere else," said Tali, nodding at Garrus' weapons.

"Then again, isn't this your first time away from the fleet?" asked Garrus, giving Tali the Turian equivalent of a smile.

"Very funny, Garrus," replied Tali, obviously not amused at all with the Turian's comment.

"So…this is where we wait for Shepard?" Meyek asked, suddenly appearing beside them. Having been walking toward them this whole time, but given how subtly he'd been making his way over and that Garrus and Tali were absorbed in their conversation, they didn't seem to notice him.

"Damn it, Meyek," said Garrus as he touched where his heart would have been. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Apologies," he replied, wincing under his mask. He'd rather not kill their new allies, intentionally or not. A barely audible mutter of 'Turians' came from the other side of the Mako, if not for his spy mask, Meyek would have barely heard it.

"...It's fine," said Garrus, but his gaze quickly shifted to Meyek's Exitus rifle. "Say, that's a nice rifle. You mind if I took a look?" Meyek obliged and took his rifle off of his back, it was his pride and joy, something he never grew tired of seeing. He relished every moment looking down the scope, bringing the Emperor's judgment to dangerous xenos or filthy traitors.

"Integrally suppressed, Nitrogen cooling sheath, smart optics system, recoil absorbing reinforced butt stock and made out of lightweight materials," said Meyek, gesturing to the various parts of the rifle. "It's optics feed directly into my mask, meaning that I rarely ever miss a shot." He then ejected the rifle's magazine, pulling out a single Exitus round, "And since these babies can make minor course corrections in flight...? Well…I almost never miss a shot."

He let Garrus take the round from him, looking the massive .75 caliber round over in his hands. "These rounds are massive, I'm curious to see how they hold up against kinetic barriers."

"Oh, trust me," said Meyek as he took the round back and placed it in its magazine, firmly pushing the magazine into the rifle's received with a satisfying click. "I think it'll do just fine."

As he was doing so, Garrus's eyes caught sight of the inscription on the barrel of his rifle, "If you don't mind me asking, what does that say?"

Meyek slung the rifle over his shoulder. "It says 'Exitus Acta Probat' – 'the end justifies the deed.' It's my organization's motto."

"Things must be harsh from where you come from... I mean, more than your superiors let on," said Garrus, looking a mixture of stunned, impressed and concerned.

There was a reason that much of what happened in their universe wasn't talked about, not just what was faced by the Auxilia and the Navy, but if he or Ray or Meghann had to talk about what they've seen? he was confident that there wouldn't be many sane people left. "Let's just say, Garrus, that what's going on with Saren? That's Tuesday for us. So far, any alien species we've encountered for the most part wants us gone. Hasn't stopped us from trying to be cooperative, but it's not always an option."

"Well, no offense, but remind me never to hop over to where you're from," said Garrus, looking quite startled.

"None taken, Garrus," replied Meyek. He decided to change the topic. "So…where's the shuttle?"

"No shuttle," said Tali. "We're taking the Normandy to the surface and then looking for the Marines in the Mako," she said, patting the hull of the vehicle parked beside them.

"Safe in an environmentally sealed cabin with plenty of firepower between us and anything out there," said Garrus. Meyek didn't agree with the plenty of firepower part of his statement. The Dracosan Armored Carrier alone could outgun a Mako, but it didn't look like the Dracosan could keep up with the Mako's top speed.

Meyek was about to say something when he heard Shepard's voice from behind him, "Well Tali, that depends on what your definition of 'to the surface' is." She walked past him and opened the hatch, stepping inside. Tali looked confused, but entered nonetheless, Meyek followed, taking a seat opposite from her. Garrus moved up to the seat next to Shepard while Wrex sat in the seat one over from Tali after sealing the hatch behind him.

After a moment of thinking, he frowned, "Wait…what do you mean by that?" Then it finally dawned on him, they weren't going to land, they were going to drop the Mako out of the Normandy. But that was insane! The damn thing would be flattened by the impact force alone. "Oh crap, you don't plan on-"

Shepard cut him off, "Yep! Better hold onto something!"

"Oh crap!" he said again, noticing that he was the only one worrying made him wonder why the others weren't worrying, Before he could think about anything, he felt the Mako drop out from the Normandy's bay.

"Relax," said Shepard, smiling to herself. "The mass effect core on the Mako makes her almost weightless." He felt the Mako decelerate slowly, presumably using thrusters mounted onto the underside of the vehicle to do so. It kinda turned the Mako into a mobile drop vehicle, quite smart actually now that he thought about it.

"Oh, that's actually…pretty great?" he said right before he was interrupted by the suddenness of the Mako's landing. Meyek was jerked around in his restraints as the Mako landed, bouncing and skidding before it came to a stop. Wrex let out a dismissive 'hmph' while Garrus turned around in his seat to face him.

"So for someone that has Tuesdays like this, you sounded awfully worried back there," said Garrus, what looked like a smirk to Meyek on the forming on his features.

"Hey," protested Meyek. "I just didn't want to die in the flimsiest vehicle I've ever set foot in."

"I kinda want to drive one of your IFVs now, Meyek," said Shepard, still smiling. "But till then, we've got a job to do." As the Mako went on, they discovered a crashed probe which they managed to salvage some parts from, thanks to Shepard and Tali respectively. Shepard for unlocking the probe's hardware locks and Tali for her skills in salvaging the parts from it.

Tali turned it all into omnigel for use in repairing the Mako in case it took any damage. Meyek learned, that the omnitools came with a wealth of features, one of them was a fabricator of sorts that allowed breaking down items into common plastics, ceramics and light alloys to be stored in a semi-molten state.

Meyek found this quite useful, he might have to ask Shepard for one once they were done here on this planet. Shepard then stopped the Mako beside a deposit of Lithium, which she then took note of and then continued on their way.

As they were driving to the last known position of the Alliance Marines, Meyek couldn't help but notice how it seemed to be in the middle of a plains section that was surrounded by a several large hills. To some, this would just be mere coincidence, to Meyek's highly trained experienced mind, something was definitely wrong. "Drop me off here Commander," said Meyek, unslinging his rifle and cradling it in his hand.

"What? Why?" asked Shepard as she brought the Mako to a slow and gentle stop, then turning around in her seat. That was when it presumably dawned on her as she looked at the terrain and then at the rifle in his hands. She nodded slowly, "Let's hope it's just nothing then."

"Somehow I doubt that," said Meyek as he opened the hatch. "But I guess you can still hope, right?" he asked right before he slipped out, closing the hatch behind him.

**Lieutenant Commander Riley Shepard**

Riley watched Meyek walk off for a moment before he vanished into nothing, catching Shepard off guard but not enough for her to visibly react. The Mako had a 155mm mass accelerator cannon, but it helped to have a sniper in overwatch when you were expecting to potentially be ambushed. She drove the Mako forward, the vehicle tilting forward as it drove down the side of the hill.

"There," said Garrus from beside her as he looked at the Mako's display. "Looks like a transmitter, and an Alliance Grizzly tank."

"A Grizzly?" she asked, taking her eyes off the controls to look at the display mounted in front of the sensor operator's seat where Garrus was seated. "Yeah, that's Admiral Kahoku's team alright. But I don't like the look of this." She continued to drive the Mako closer before stopping. "Alright, Tali, you're going to watch our backs. Anything shows up? Blow it to hell with the main gun."

"You got it, Shepard," came the reply from the young Quarian engineer.

"Wrex, Garrus, with me," she said as she got out of the driver's seat and made her way to the vehicle's exit hatch. Garrus and Wrex following behind her. Tali in the mean while slipped into the driver's hatch. Sealing the hatch behind her, Riley drew her HMWP Master pistol and slowly advanced on the transmitter when suddenly a giant Thresher Maw erupted from the ground. She immediately let off a hail of Tungsten rounds, the weapon's scram rail sending them out at high velocities at the Maw.

The heavy rounds coming in at high velocities punched through the thinner sections of the creature's carapace while Garrus let off short controlled bursts with his HMWP Master Assault Rifle. The Maw recoiled in pain, but wasn't looking that much worse for the wear. As she and Garrus kept up their withering hail of fire, Wrex let out a devastating Warp on the Thresher Maw.

Not even a split second later, a flash instantly polarized her visor and presumably Garrus and Wrex's. She heard Meyek's voice crackle in her helmet, "I wonder how it feels about a million degree incendiary burn?" As her visor depolarized, she watched as the body of the Maw dropped to the ground, kicking up dust, most of its head and upper body vaporized. "Gotta love those hyphosphate incendiary rounds," added Meyek.

"Nice shot, Meyek," she said, looking around for the sniper and seeing nothing. "We'll pick you up on our way back."

"That'd be nice," came the reply before the line went dead. Shepard, Garrus and Wrex walked closer to the Grizzly, with Wrex letting out a triumphant grunt as they walked past the dead Maw. She stopped short of the corpse of an Alliance Marine.

"Alliance soldiers. Looks like they were lured here by the distress beacon," said Wrex after he looked at the body on the ground.

"Looks like these men were under Admiral Kahoku's command," said Garrus. "He'd want to know what happened here."

"Well, our job here is done," she said with a sigh. "Come on, let's get back to the Mako."

**Clade Callidus Operative Meghann Lestourgen**

Meghann knew about waiting on a ship to be deployed, but that was an entirely different situation than the one she was in. She was going to be working with the Normandy and her crew for a while. So, it was quite possibly going to be a bad idea to ignore the request of the ship's medical officer when she said that she wanted to meet her in the med bay.

With that in mind, the Callidus walked in through the entrance to the med bay, as it was called here. Inside, there was an elderly woman sitting at the desk, who looked up at her when she entered. "Ah, I'm glad you actually came." Meghann gave her a quizzical look. "Ray wasn't nearly as accommodating. He also didn't take too kindly when I advised him to stop smoking either," she added before letting out a laugh.

At this Meghann smiled as well, "Yes, he's quite fond of his Lho-sticks." She remembered reading about the stigma associated with their equivalents in this galaxy. "They are, however, not nearly as bad as cigarettes. Most worlds tolerate them due to the fact that they only have mild negative effects."

"Yes, well I suppose if I were sorting through vast quantities of data like your friend seems to be, I would need something to keep my nerves intact. But a nice glass of Serrice Ice Brandy always seems to do fine for me," said the doctor. "But I've wasted enough of your time. I'm Doctor Chakwas, the ship's medical officer. "It's my duty to make sure everyone on this ship is in good health. Now, while I doubt you're in anything but peak condition my dear, it occurs to me I have no medical records on file for you."

Meghann nodded, "Of course. What do you need?" she asked amicably, not particularly enthused by or used to the idea of being inspected by anyone other than the experts at her clade's headquarters. But seeing as they were a long, long way from here, she'd have to submit to this.

"Excellent," said Doctor Chakwas as she stood up from her chair, placing the dataslate she was looking at down on the desk in front of her. "If you could please remove your footwear and lie down, we'll have this done in no time." Meghann obliged, taking off her shoes and placing them next to the medical bed she was going to lie down on, and then did so. "Alright," said Doctor Chakwas as she walked over to the side of the bed and activated the medical scanner.

Doctor Chakwas spoke again after a few moments of intermittent beeping, "Hmm, you're in perfect health as I imagined…there are some implants…those I don't particularly understand. Also traces of a drug I don't recognize." She looked down at Meghann, "I don't suppose that you'll tell me what those are?"

Meghann thought for a moment, there was no need to needlessly reveal information, should she be injured, neither the near insignificant quantities of polymorphine nor her neural and other implants would ever come in the way of her being treated. They integrated with her body to the point of being completely and utterly irrelevant until they were needed. "They won't interfere in any attempts to treat any injuries that I may sustain, and do not require any attention or care."

"I can see that they don't run off an integrated power supply, which is remarkable, I must admit," said Doctor Chakwas before she let out a sigh in defeat. "Very well, we're done here. Please tell Mr. Maksimov that I expect to see him in my office before his next deployment."

Meghann got up from the bed and quickly laced her boots back up, "I will, Doctor." With that, she began heading out the door.

"And Meghann?" called Chakwas after her, making her stop short of the door and turn her head around. "Thank you for being so cooperative. I hope the next time you see me is just to say 'hello.'"

Meghann smiled understanding it as the doctor's way of wishing her well, "As do I. Good bye, Doctor Chakwas." She walked out of the med bay, allowing the door to close behind her as she walked out. Finding herself in the mess, she looked around and her heightened senses picked up the scents of cooking microseconds after she'd left the med bay.

Her eyes fell on Staff Lieutenant Alenko using the collapsible electrical stove to cook some eggs. There was meat of some sort in the pan as well. He seemed to notice her standing and looked up from his cooking, "Oh, hey. I was just making myself some bacon and eggs, would you like some?"

"I couldn't impose," she said quickly, stunned by his offer. She wasn't expecting him to even notice her, or care.

"No, no, I made a little extra anyway," said Alenko, taking out two plates and splitting the pan's contents between them. After placing cutlery onto both plates he picked them up and held out one to Meghann, "Here." Meghann reached out and took the plate, seating herself at the mess hall table.

Kaidan took a seat that sat him opposite her, then slicing off a piece off the egg white and skewering a piece of bacon with his fork and putting it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "Mmm, that turned out better than I'd hoped." Obliging, Meghann tasted the meal in front of her as well, and admittedly it was good. It tasted better what she was used to eating at the Clade headquarters. She took another bite, savoring the taste and texture, the saltiness of the meat and the soft fluffiness of the egg. "Is it that good?" he asked her, looking up from his meal. "I mean, you haven't said a word."

Meghan chuckled, "It is good, yes. I'm just enjoying it. My apologies."

"Don't get much home cooked I'm guessing?" asked Kaidan.

"I must admit that I have no cooking skills of my own," said Meghann, a sheepish look forming on her facial features. "And what we're given is perfectly balanced for our nutritional requirements."

"Perks of being an elite operative?" asked Kaidan, frowning. "Of what was it? Clade Callidus?" He paused for a moment as if in thought before he asked, "What is that, some sort of elite military organization? Intelligence agency? Gunnery Chief Williams mentioned them…Callidus…and Vindicare, I think?"

There was no going back, not as far as she knew, the Imperium that they'd all fought, bled and nearly died for was so far away that it didn't matter. Her Clade would likely write her off as dead, her mission a failure. This…Alliance Lieutenant, it didn't matter if she revealed some information about her life to him.

"Something to that effect," she said nodding as she paused to think about how to phrase the next part. "The Clades are a group of skilled operatives whose sole purpose is to strike at the enemies of the Imperium not reachable by its Army, Armada or even the mighty Legiones of Astartes."

"So…government sponsored assassins?" asked Kaidan frowning as he tried to understand just what it was she was telling him. Assassin…it was a word she was more than used to being called, both in a complimentary and derogatory fashion. She'd fought alongside much of the forces in the Imperium, and not all took kindly to her presence, particularly some of the Legiones Astartes. Ultramarines Sergeant Artan Valerius being one of them, her confrontation with the Astartes almost resulting in both their deaths. His, by her hand, and hers at the hands of his men.

"In effect. Ray's Clade, Vanus, prefers to wield information as its weapon and many of its operatives do not even leave its headquarters. But they hold vast quantities of information on everyone in the Imperium. Meyek's Clade, Vindicare, are among if not the best marksman in the entire Imperium. Their operatives are skilled hunters who end rebellions with a single shot."

"Are all of them as…eccentric as Meyek?" interrupted Kaidan. Meghann knew that Meyek's strange attitude made people question his skill, if not his sanity. A lot of Vindicare ended up becoming little more than living weapons, with only the best retaining most of their sanity and personality to allow them to be more flexible in the field and on deployments with other Imperial forces.

"Some are, some are a lot more stoic, and some are fairly…normal. All Clade operatives go through a stringent and brutal training process, this weeds out the weak links. Those that do pass, don't always come through with their minds fully intact. We're all a mixed bag," she admitted. "Not unlike any other organization."

He nodded, "Yeah, I know something about that." From the way that he furrowed his brow and directed his gaze at the table, Meghann assumed that he was remembering his own experiences. "I'm a biotic…our um, training process, isn't the most pleasant either." Realizing that she hadn't mentioned her Clade, he added, "And yours?"

"Clade Callidus, we are the infiltration specialists," said Meghann. But Kaidan seemed to get the idea pretty quickly.

"So the get close to someone and shove a knife between their ribs type?" he asked, but seeming quite sure of the answer.

"If the situation calls for that, yes. Otherwise it can mean any number of things. We make excellent saboteurs as well, slipping behind enemy lines undetected and removing any assets that need to be," she replied.

Kaidan let out a low whistle, "I remember the Lord Admiral mentioning your last mission. I guess the three of you must be quite high ranked in your…clades, to have been selected for that mission."

"Epsilon-Dan, all three of us, one of the highest ranks attainable," she answered, a proud smile appearing on her face.

Kaidan chuckled, "Well, I guess we're lucky to have some of the most elite warriors of the Imperium. Because if what I've been told so far is true, going after Saren is your average Tuesday."

The smile stayed on her face, "He will not escape justice— he nor his Reaper masters."

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

"So what you're saying is that, you'll help the Alliance?" asked Admiral Steven Hackett. The two men from the Alliance sat across Archmagos Reductor Hypax, Lord  Marshall Lissie and herself. They'd explained their interest in helping the Alliance take its place in the Galaxy. The Lord Admiral still wanted to meet with the Quarians and Krogan. But as Shepard's crew member had said, they'd have to unite the Krogan clans first, and based on their history, they might be wary about an external group coming to their aid.

Thalia clasped her hands together, thankfully at least she and Bertie had translators, translating her speech in Low-Gothic to English quite perfectly, "Admiral Hackett, Captain Anderson, it is the duty of man to assist his fellow man no matter where that may be. However, as we have discussed with Lieutenant Commander Shepard, revealing ourselves to the galaxy at large at this point in time would be a colossal error."

"The Council would have a field day," said Anderson, nodding to Thalia as he looked over to Admiral Hackett to see what he thought.

"That would be a best-case scenario, a worse one would involve exile like the Quarians, and accusations that we've been developing super dreadnoughts without their knowledge," said Hackett, then letting out a sigh.

"As it stands Admiral, we could probably fight your council, but I'm not throwing my men into a war when it seems there is another on the horizon," said Thalia, looking from Hackett to Anderson. Both men seemed agreeable, which meant to an extent they both believed something of what Shepard had said.

"Naturally, we’d need a base of operations first.," said Bertie. "Can’t be helping you when our own men are starving, and our equipment is breaking down." Thalia knew that such a thing would only happen without years of maintenance, but that Alliance officers did not.

"I understand Lord Marshall," said Hackett nodding. "As you've said before, this planet here will do. Correct?" From the Admiral's lack of reluctance, she could tell that the Alliance were eager to step out of the Council's shadow. Now that they had a method that didn't involve a long and costly war…they were quite ready to do so.

"This planet has adequate resources to begin production of the materials needed, but any assistance you can provide would be most appreciated," clarified Hypax.

"We can start covertly sending supplies under guise of supporting a base, which is what we'll tell the Council. The official story is that Geth ships mined the system which is why the Turians were destroyed so quickly and that we lost several ships before we were able to drive off the Geth. We have some frigates that were destroyed last month to a large group of Batarian raiders. There's enough evidence to ward off suspicion," said Hackett.

"As long as that is indeed the case, we'll leave it in your hands," said Thalia. "But should any more ships come through, we will not submit to the council nor any of their restrictions. We _will_ defend ourselves."

Anderson sighed, "I understand Lord Admiral. Hopefully this business with Saren will keep them occupied. If you don't mind me asking, what support can you provide."

"Both indirect and direct," answered Thalia. "We'll support Alliance operations directly, as well as provide weapons, equipment, vehicles and smaller ships. In the event that we get ship scale weapon production running, we'll begin retrofitting what ships we can. I can't guarantee complete compatibility however."

"Such compatibility will be increased if we were provided schematics," added Hypax. There was slight hesitation from both the Alliance officers, who shared looks with each other. "We have no need for them other than to aid you. Of course, you could wait for imperfectly fitted technology to your already inferior ships.”

This seemed to irk both men, but they said nothing. Hackett pulled something from one of his pockets, "Here, I had an OSD loaded with them in the event that you were as cooperative as we'd hoped." A mechadendrite extended from the rear of his chassis and took the OSD from the Admiral, the Admiral’s reaction showed through the cracks in the mask of emotions he wore.

"As I have said before Admiral Hackett, we serve mankind, that means assisting the Alliance as well," said Tirpitz, giving Hackett as respectful nod.

"As soon as I'm back in Alliance command, I'll explain the situation to the other officers at Alliance command. I'm sure you'll get your supplies, but I wouldn't hold my breath, but you can count on it that we'll keep the Council off your backs," said Hackett.

At her rank, Thalia would have merely ordered the veritable army of bulk transports that would usually be under her command, but she could see that it wasn't the way the Alliance worked. "Understood," he said, nodding. "Does anyone have anything further to add?"

"Nothing further," confirmed Hackett. Anderson shook his head as well. If the two Alliance officers had any concerns, they had done a good job of hiding it from them.

"Then this meeting is concluded," said Thalia, as one they stood up, and she and Bertie shook hands with Anderson and Hackett. They walked them back to the hangar where he watched them board their boxy shuttle and leave. The shuttle landed back on the Alliance ship, which turned around with considerable ease and made its way toward the edge of the system.

Her microbead then crackled to life, "Ma’am, Navigator Caelan here." The Lord Admiral had been wondering when the Navigator would recover to speak to him. When he'd spoken to the other ships, their Navigators had been as fatigued and almost driven to madness as Caelan. They'd done all they can medically for Caelan, but while it did stop his ramblings about the warp being calm but the Astronomican missing, he was still recovering slowly.

"It's good to hear your voice again, Caelan," said Thalia as she touched the microbead in her ear. "What news do you have for me?" Caelan had been with her for as long as she'd been with the Navy. As far as the Lord Admiral had understood from the medicae, Caelan had been the least affected in comparison to the other Navigators on board their ship. That was likely something to do with the fact that his abilities were superior to theirs, something signified by the fact that he was the Chief Navigator.

"While the light of the Astronomican is not visible by myself or the other Navigators…the relative calm of the Warp means we do not need to traverse deep within it, we can remain on its edges allowing us to traverse the Warp as during the days of old," said Caelan, the apprehension in his voice told the Lord Admiral that he was unsure if he would be believed. Thalia let out a sigh, she trusted Caelan. As…strange as it sounded, it sounded no stranger than what she'd come to accept. Part of her wondered how this was possible, but she'd dismissed the thought. As 'much' as he knew about the Warp from her many years of service with the Imperialis Armada, she trusted Caelan's opinion a lot more.

"I would trust that Astropathic communication is similarly affected?" she asked back. If they were both better than what they had where they came from, then fighting may not be as hard as they'd previously imagined.

"I would imagine," said Caelan. "But most of the Astropaths have been out of consciousness as you know, Lord Admiral. Once they wake, I will confer with them."

"Good," said Thalia nodding. "Good. It would seem we're in a decent position after all. Thank you Caelan, that will be all." With that, the line went dead.

"And?" asked Bertie from beside her. “From the look on your face am I to assume we have some news that’s not on the lines of, ‘Dear Throne we’re all going to explode’?"

A smile formed on Thalia’s face as she turned to face Bertie, shaking her head at her husband’s antics, "It would seem that we may not need the Astronomican after all. According to Navigator Caelan, it's as clear as day. No Warp Storms plaguing it. He says that we'll be able to traverse the Warp like the days of old, before the Astronomican."

The expression on his face could scarcely be described with words, it was a mixture of shock, celebration and relief. "Well that's…that's quite amazing." Clearly Bertie wasn't caring about how this was possible, just glad that it was. "Our position in this galaxy has suddenly become a lot stronger. Not that I think we should declare war on this 'Council' immediately, but it would certainly be possible."

"Indeed it would," said Thalia, still smiling. "We might even be able to send more help to our Throne agents in their hunt for this 'Saren'."

"I'm sure they don't need our help in hunting down one xenos scumbag," countered Bertie. Thalia nodded, her smile slowly fading however. If they didn't stop Saren, and Shepard was right, then they'd have a far larger problem to deal with.

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov**

As he stepped out of the Mako, he jogged a little to keep up with Shepard, "So we're heading out again?" he asked. They'd just got back from looking for Admiral Kahoku's missing Marine recon team, only to find them victims of a trap of some sort.

"Saren's not going to wait for us," said Shepard, pausing mid stride to turn around and address him. "If we find that conduit before he does, then there's a better chance that we can stop him."

Meyek wasn't tired or fatigued, he didn't care if Shepard took him on ten more missions, and then some. His physiology was built for endless periods of hunting his target. "Understood. I'm ready Shepard, once I restock my ammunition supplies."

"Good," said Shepard nodding, "Because I want you and Meghann on this next one. Briefing's in ten." He nodded and walked over to Ray as quickly as possible. The Vanus was, as usual, reading through data on his cogitator gauntlet. He'd changed the visibility of the hololithic panes so that only those with the ocular implants of the Vanus Clade would be able to view it.

"The case next to the one on the right," said Ray without even looking up acknowledge him. "Heard about your shot, Joker's already told the entire crew. But then again, you like attention, don't you?"

Meyek walked over to the aforementioned case, keying in its password and opening it. Fishing inside, he refilled the missing round and shut the case. "So, you're in a charming mood, aren't you?"

"Hmm," he merely grunted, still not taking his eyes off what he was looking at. Meyek didn't know what it was, but whatever it was it was causing him serious distress. Meyek hadn't seen him this annoyed in a while. The last time was when they'd been stuck in the Warp for more than twenty days without word about when they were going to drop out. Which was understandable, being stuck in the Warp wasn't anyone's idea of a good situation to be in.

"Come on Ray, spit it out," said Meyek as he closed the case and stood back up. "Bottling things up isn't going to help anything."

Ray was silent in thought for a minute before he responded, "Well…I'll tell you once you come back. This might take a while."

Meyek nodded, "Alright, but we're not done, got it?" Ray nodded in agreement. "Good. Now I best be heading off upstairs. Don't want to keep the others waiting." With that, he around and took the stairs up to the first deck. He didn't know what was bothering Ray, but they needed to be operating without distraction. He found it strange though that he was taking on the responsibility himself.

As he was walking toward the briefing room, he saw Meghann ascending the stairs in full gear, sans her mask. Realizing that he still had his own on, he quickly removed his own in what was clearly a practiced maneuver. The two of them entered the briefing room and took their places at the two furthermost seats wordlessly.

Looking around, he could see almost everyone was here. Garrus, Wrex, Tali, Meghann and himself. All they were missing was Shepard, Alenko and Williams. There was awkward silence in the room as the two of them sat across from Garrus, Wrex and Tali, until Garrus broke the silence. "So, Meyek, that was a hell of a shot you pulled back there. That rifle of yours has some fantastic range."

"Don't forget about that round," said Wrex. "I've never seen anything like it. What was that, a thousand degree burn?" he asked Meyek, looking intently for his response with his red eyes. In some ways, they reminded Meyek of an Orks, but at the same time they were more like that of a reptilian creature. One thing was for sure, the Krogan were far more intelligent than the smartest Ork he'd killed.

"One million degree burn," said Meyek with pride in his voice. "Burns without oxygen too, and I've got more where that came from."

Before Wrex was able to say anything, the door to the briefing room opened with a hiss and in walked Shepard, Alenko and Williams. "Everyone ready?"

"Affirmative, Shepard," said Garrus, speaking for them. Shepard nodded and took her place at the far end of the room while Alenko and Williams sat down beside him, Williams taking the seat closest to him. "Alright, our next objective is to find Dr. T'Soni, Matriarch Benezia's daughter. We don't know if she's with Saren or not, but her work on the Protheans may lead us to the Conduit, which means that if she isn't with Saren, then he's going to be after her."

"What do we know about the situation on Therum?" asked Alenko.

Shepard displayed an image of what looked like industrial facilities of some kind, "Therum's mostly an industrial world that's supposed to be under Alliance control, in reality the mining corporations own it. We have no idea what to expect, so Kaidan, you'll be leading Garrus, Wrex and Williams in the Mako while Meghann, Meyek and I scout ahead for you."

Meyek wasn't expecting that, but from what he'd heard this was what Shepard was trained in. An N7 Infiltrator was what her official classification was. The N7 program was supposed to be the Alliance best, nothing of course when compared to the Imperium's own, but certainly something to be noted. Meyek's own judgment of the program based on what material Ray had given them was that the N7 operatives were somewhere in between the Auxilia's own Tercio and the Veletaris. Which still put them above the other regiments of the Imperial Army.

"Sounds like a plan," said Meghann, clearly having come to a similar conclusion as he had. He didn't doubt Shepard's skills, but in comparison to the enhancements and training that he and Meghann received, Alliance Marine gene therapy was like a rejuvenat treatment. He did hope that she could keep up, the last thing he wanted to be doing was having to slow down for her to keep up. But he decided that it would be wise to keep his opinion to himself.

"Once we're both at the dig site, we'll find Dr. T'Soni and leave, hopefully we'll find her before Saren or his Geth do," continued Shepard. "Any questions?" The silence was her answer. Tali didn't seem to question why she wasn't coming on the mission, which showed a great degree of professionalism from her, as he knew that she wasn't disinterested. Both of them had a personal stake in the hunt for Saren. "Good, we'll be arriving at Therum soon. So I expect you all to gear up and be at the Mako in thirty. Dismissed."

Meyek smiled as he stood up and switched over to a shared vox channel between himself and Meghann, inaudible to anyone else. "This should be fun. You get anything more on the Geth while I was off?" Meghann was clearly smiling under her mask as she turned and raised her arms slightly to show an Ikanos pattern Bolt pistol holstered where her Neural Shredder was normally holstered.

"Until Ray can figure out what frequency their processors operate at, he suggested it would be best for me to utilize his spare Bolt pistol," clarified Meghann.

"Yeah, well, what if it's not Geth?" asked Meyek, they didn't after all, know if the Geth were there or not. The answer to his question however, was quite obvious, but being who he was he still felt impudent enough to ask it.

"Then either way they meet their end by mass reactive armor piercing bolt rounds," said Meghann in a jovial tone. "I will miss my Neural Shredder, but this will suffice till it is able to be tuned to be an effective weapon against the Synthetics."

The Vindicare nodded, and together the two Imperial assassins made their way toward the lower decks where the Normandy' M35 Mako was stored.

_Thirty minutes later_

Meyek checked his harness once more, just to be safe. As apparently proven the Mako was, he could never be too sure. Meghann seemed fine in her seat however, and of course so did the others. Shepard was sitting on his left, with Meghann on his right. Across from him sat Garrus and Wrex, while Alenko and Williams sat in the front at the Mako's controls.

Williams was in the driver's seat, while Alenko occupied the systems operator seat next to hers. "You are fully trained in the operation of an M35 Mako, aren't you Gunnery Chief?" asked Alenko, giving her a somewhat wary look from his seat.

"'Course, LT. The hell kinda Marine would I be if I didn't know how to drive a Mako?" asked Williams, giving him a confident smile.

"I'm sure it'll be better than Shepard's driving if that comes as a consolation, Gunnery Chief," said Garrus, the Turian equivalent of a supportive smile plastering his face.

"Thanks, Garrus," said Williams, smiling. "Glad to see someone has some faith in my driving skills."

"Well," said Garrus, extending the word before continuing. "To be fair, I haven't been in a Mako with you at the controls, and I have been in one with Shepard at the controls. What is that human saying? Ignorance is bliss?"

There was a moment of silence before Williams spoke again, "I'll take that as a compliment." He heard the groaning of the bay door's opening mechanism as it opened up ahead of them. The Mako quickly dropped out the front and began it's descent. If anyone didn't know they were coming, they knew now. Especially since the Mako fell through the air at an uncharacteristic pace for something it's size and weight.

The Mako shook as it hit the ground. Williams turned around in her seat to look at Garrus, "Your opinion, Vakarian?"

"Hmm," said Garrus as if in thought. "I'd say that landing was better than the Commander's. We didn't bounce."

Williams let out a laugh, "Oh yeah, I still got it." She stretched her hands out in front of her before settling them on the controls again.

That was when the Mako's intercom came to life, "Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings. Really strange. Like, off the damn charts."

"Joker, the last time you said that…" started Shepard. "Was when we ran into the Imperium."

"I don't know Commander, whatever it is, it looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few klicks away from the drop zone," informed Joker right before the line went dead.

"Alright," said Shepard as she undid her safety harness and stood up. "This is our stop. Meyek, Meghann, with me." Meyek undid his safety harness, as did Meghann and they stood behind Shepard as she opened up the Mako's rear hatch. With a hiss, the rear hatch opened, but not before a kinetic barrier popped up in place to keep the cabin from depressurizing. Shepard stepped out first, and what greeted them looked like quite a literal hell scape.

"Charming," he whispered into his vox-caster. "You take us to all the best places, Shepard. I think I just might retire here…"

"Here? You sure? I haven't even taken you to the other places we need to visit on our hunt for Saren. Don't be hasty now," said Shepard as she removed a sniper rifle off her back. Thanks to the last-minute additions of firearm data to his Spy Mask's memory coil, he identified it as a HMWSR Sniper Rifle, reserved for use by Council Spectres and those they procured it for.

As they began moving up, he shrugged, "I don't know…I got a good feeling about this." The heat from the lava didn't bother any of them, and even though they weren't cloaked, active sensor scans were absorbed by his and Meghann's suit. Shepard's didn't, but any contact expecting a lone scout was going to find that they were going to need to send a lot more men.

As they walked, it became clear that the rock paths had clearly been carved in by the mining corporation, despite how lacking they were in terms of evenness. But the three of them, an N7 operative and two operatives of the Officio Assassinorum, had no problem in traversing the terrain.

It was then however, that a contact showed up on his auspex unit, based on the scan it looked to be a Geth dropship. "We got incoming, Geth Dropships. Looks like Saren wants Dr. T'Soni too." He and Meghann vanished into nothing.

"Just as I thought," muttered Shepard before her armor too vanished, but Meyek knew that this wouldn't last. Shepard was only going to be able to keep this up until the dropship was gone, if that.

Twin metallic thumps signified that the Dropship had dropped off something fairly large, as he looked down the scope of his rifle he found two Geth Armatures scanning the horizon for them. Meyek smiled as he sighted in. The targeting auspexes in his Spy Mask analyzed the target and then told him based on a power signature scan that if he put a sing round through its 'head' and then another through its 'body',

"So, is this when we call the Mako, or do either of you have a trick up your sleeve?" asked Shepard, looking between the both of them as she reappeared in between them.

"Just a sec, Shepard," he said as he took aim and with two squeezes of the trigger sent two Exitus rounds downrange at the first armature. Thanks to his enhanced senses, he got to see the both the rounds hit when they did instead of seeing them as hitting at the same time. The one aimed for the head exploded through the soft metal and sensors after overloading its kinetic barriers, literally tearing it apart a split second before the other one tore through the 'body', taking sensors and servo parts when it flew out the back.

"That's…one way of doing it," said a very shocked Shepard as she observed his handiwork through her own rifle's scope.

"You missed one," smiled Meghann, glad now more than ever that the reputation of a Clade Vindicare operative to remove a target no matter its stature was well deserved.

"Patience is a virtue…" he said, voice trailing off as his mind made rapid calculations based on the data fed directly into it by the Spy Mask before once more he pulled the trigger on his rifle twice. Silently, two Exitus rounds hit the second armature with similar effects. "A virtue that I sometimes don't care for."

**A/N: The Mako's main gun is a 155mm mass accelerator cannon firing HE rounds. By nature of modern tank combat we know that 30mm AFPDS rounds have better penetration than 120mm HEAT rounds. So, with that said as my evidence, it's very possible for a smaller caliber dedicated armor piercing round to have better armor penetration capabilities than a larger HE round.**

"Well done, Meyek," said Shepard, nodding in approval as she lowered her rifle. "Alenko, the Geth are here. We've neutralized two armatures, bring the Mako up. We'll keep scouting ahead."

"Roger that Commander, did you say two armatures?" asked Alenko over the shared comms channel.

"I did…let's just say I sure am glad Meyek's on our side," said Shepard, chuckling. "He's one hell of a shot and that's one hell of a rifle."

"Aye, Commander," said Alenko, clearly still surprised, but not saying anything else seeing as they had a mission to do.

In the background, Garrus' voice could be heard, "And here I thought that we had the big gun." Meyek smiled to himself as the line went dead. Not needing to be told to do so, the both of them followed Shepard onward.

"So that round there…that was a standard one? Or was that special like the one you killed that Thresher Maw with?" asked Shepard, breaking the silence after they'd traveled a fair bit.

"That was the standard Exitus round," answered Meyek. "Punches through most armor like a hot knife through butter. I've also got something for tanks when we come across those." Meghann shook her head at his antics, but of course, she was more than used to them by now.

"So what were you back in the..." her voice trailed off for a moment as she searched for the right word. "Imperium? One-man recon division?"

"We just got all the tools we needed to make sure that there was nowhere our targets could hide from the Imperium's justice," said Meyek. "In some ways. quite like you, and in others quite different." Shepard nodded, understanding that if he had wanted to mention the distinctions he would.

Meghann suddenly held up her hand, signaling them to stop. Meyek looked ahead and saw what looked to be a larger security station, now clearly taken over by the Geth for use as a road block to slow down anyone attempting to reach Dr. T'Soni by ground. This was one of those times he wished he had taken on of those Storm Eagles from the Fist of Judgment, but he was sure that they wouldn't fit into the cargo bay of the Normandy. He dropped to a crouch and brought his rifle's scope up to identify what was waiting for them.

"Well," said Meyek over their comms. "We've got Geth, Geth and lot's more Geth."

"Only a fool punches a nathak in the mouth, you should go around and pull its tail so we can punch it in its mouth when it's distracted," said Wrex, then letting out a chuckle at his own joke. Meyek understood that a Nathak was some sort of large predatory creature native to Tuchanka, but even then, failed to see the humor in Wrex’s statement.

"Well…that doesn't actually sound like a half bad idea," said Meyek. Looking around, still through his scope, he found passage through the rock wall on their right. "There seems to be a way, I don't know if it leads into that security station, but I'd like to bet a couple gelts that it does."

Shepard nodded, "Alright, the three of us will get in the back and open the gate so that you guys can bring the Mako in through the front and bring the pain." Once more, they were on the move, with Shepard engaging her cloaking device to allow her a short sprint of invisibility as they made their way down the alternative path.

Finding some pipes that were on a frame that kept them off the path, Meyek saw what was a perfect firing position overlooking the security station ahead. "I found an overwatch position, you two go ahead, I'll let you know when I'm in position."

"Affirmative," came Meghann's reply. Without another word, the Vindicare sprinted over to one of the supports and use the struts that were in a diagonal pattern to climb up onto the top. Once there, he could see a large turret that looked like it was made by the Geth. His Spy Mask immediately picked out the control servo and instead of trying to destroy the turret, the Vindicare put a quick disabling shot right through the aforementioned control servo before he activated his mic, "In position. The path ahead is also now clear, by the way."

He saw a lot of Geth up ahead, but none really requiring his immediate attention and so he held his fire. Shepard cloaked once more, only appearing as she took up position behind a support pillar at the entrance to the station. Shepard's rifle spat and dropped a Geth Shock Trooper at the entrance to the station. The remaining Geth in the unit looked around for the direction of the shot, slowly advancing on Shepard's position.

Another unit was coming to aid them when suddenly the rear three were bisected and the 'heads' of the first two snapped forward as they were hit from the rear. This brought a smile to his face as he raised his rifle and dealt with the Geth turret watching the entrance in a similar manner as he head dealt with the last.

With the two closest squads dealt with, he noticed that Meghann had turned her attention to the Geth Shock Troopers stationed above the currently sealed entrance. He knew that she'd be able to get off four headshots before any of them could even react, so he turned his attention to Shepard. The thermal sensors in his armor detecting the Geth even through the wall.

Taking aim, the Vindicare let off a single round that punched clean through the thin wall of the building and then right through the head of the Geth Shock Trooper. "Heads up, Shepard," he said over their shared comms, smiling to himself.

There was a perceptible pause on the other end and then he noticed the entrance start to open before he heard a response from Shepard, "Very funny Meyek, how about a warning next time before you take the shot?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" asked Meyek, smiling ear to ear under his Vindicare Spy Mask. He watched the Mako pull through the front entrance and fire it's mass accelerator cannon at a squad of Geth exiting a guard house toward the rear entrance whilst simultaneously running over a Geth Shock Trooper that tried to fire a rocket into it.

He watched as Wrex jumped out the back and put a shotgun blast into the Geth, despite the fact that it was dead. "That's the last of them," he heard Wrex report in over the comms as he made his way over to the gatehouse in the rear. A moment later the rear gate was opening and the Krogan was walking back to the Mako.

Meyek made his way down from the pipes and walked into the security station, decloaking. Meghann appeared beside him as they joined Shepard at the exit. "It's not that much further now," said Shepard as they began walking out. But as Shepard was talking, Meyek noticed an incoming burst of energy. He tackled Shepard to the ground while Meghann dived for cover.

Bringing his rifle back up, he looked through the scope and identified the source; a pair of Geth Armatures. Meyek got on the comms to the Mako, sending it the coordinates of the first Armature. "Williams, you see that Armature?"

Williams took his cue, "Roger that, lighting it up." The Mako fired, but the round impacted against the kinetic barrier of the armature with explosive force. That was all Meyek needed. Sighting in, he sent a single Exitus round right through the center 'body' of the Armature, causing the Geth to collapse.

As he sent the next set, the Mako fired once more. Meyek repeated the process for this one as well. As he lowered his rifle, he could see Shepard looking on in pride. "I'm impressed, Meyek. Didn't think I'd see that sort of cooperation."

"Just because we're usually deployed on our own, doesn't mean we're not decent team players when we have to be," he answered back.

Shepard nodded, "Come on, let's get moving." They continued onward until Meyek spotted a cluster of standard Geth soldiers and Geth Shock Troopers in front of what looked to be a larger Armature. But his Spy Mask was telling him that it was a 'Geth Colossus'. He scoffed, he'd seen tanks larger than that sorry excuse of a battle automata.

"Alright, looks like we got Geth, Geth and more Geth," he said over their shared comms, before adding a little most hastily, “again.”

"Care to be a little more specific, Meyek?" asked Shepard with slight annoyance in her tone. Shepard detached her rifle off of her back and brought it up to her shoulder.

"Well we've got Geth Troopers, Geth Shock Troopers and a Colossus," said Meyek. This Geth had significant increase in armor over the Armature. But Meyek had a round for just about every situation. He changed magazines with a quick practiced motion, loading in one with Turbo-Penetrators loaded in. He still had a single standard Exitus round loaded in, more than enough to sufficiently weaken the kinetic barriers.

"Alright," said Shepard, nodding to herself. "Meyek, I'm guessing you're handling that Colossus?"

"Yep," came Meyek's response quite simply as his rifle fed all the necessary targeting information into his mask, which transferred it directly into his conscious. A heartbeat later, he pulled the trigger twice. The first round smacked into the barrier and while it was stopped, it weakened to the barrier to the point of almost collapsing. The Turbo-Penetrator round punched right through the barrier and right through the colossus, ripping it apart on the inside as it passed through.

The moment the Colossus dropped, Shepard started firing at the Geth, letting off a pair of shots that dropped two of the Geth Troopers. Shepard had probably meant to fire when he fired, but his reflexes clearly measured several magnitudes over hers. By the time he had changed magazines and fired off a shot at one of the Geth Shock Troopers, Shepard had fired at the other one. Seeing no contacts, he checked his auspex to confirm this, which also registered no more Geth in the area, "Clear."

"Roger that," said Shepard as she began moving forward, him and Meghann following. Meghann's silence didn't bother him, she was the type who didn't speak unless she had something to say that would have some sort of meaningful impact on the situation. Even if it was an aside, she usually never said anything unless it was anecdotal.

They made their way through a tunnel that likely went through the surrounding rock formations, it was utilitarian and nothing special. Meyek was almost comforted by the utilitarian passage, everything in this place seemed to have been built with ascetics in mind, he was glad to see something that was just…practical. The two Geth at the end of the tunnel met their end by phase-sword and a single .50- caliber bolt round respectively.

It was there however, that they noticed the road came to an end, and so they waited for the Mako to catch up. He sat crouched, watching the way up ahead through his rifle's scope. So far, he hadn't even had to draw his Exitus pistol, so far things had been going in their favor. He heard the quiet growl of the Mako's engine as the vehicle pulled up behind them, showing up on his auspex scanner as a friendly unit.

The sound of boots hitting the floor made him turn his attention from the path ahead. "So, I guess this is the end of the road?" asked Williams as she pulled her HMWSR Assault Rifle off her back.

"For the Geth," said Shepard, smiling at Williams comment. "Wrex, you take point. Meghann, stay ahead of Wrex but stay close. Alenko and Williams, you're with me. Garrus, you and Meyek watch our back."

"Got it, Shepard," said Wrex as he chuckled to himself, pushing ahead, HMWSR Shotgun in hand. Meghann vanished into nothing as she jogged ahead of Wrex.

"Damn," said Williams, shaking her head. "I'm never going to get used to that. Not even a sound…"

Shepard waved the rest of them forward, "Come on, don't want to keep Wrex waiting. You know how cranky he gets." Garrus chuckled at that. Meyek smiled as well. As they continued walking, Meyek heard Wrex roaring, his shotgun going off and then the sounds of Geth hitting the floor. Once they had caught up, they saw several bisected Geth chassis and some smashed to pieces, either by brute force or by shotgun rounds.

Meyek noted a white substance flowing out from them, probably some sort of fluid required for their limbs, which seemed to look like they were constructed from artificial muscle strands. Not that he knew anything on the subject, but it was like a disturbing imitation of organic limbs. It put Meyek off more than it probably should have, as the others didn't seem to say much.

"That's one way to do it," commented Garrus as he walked by a Geth that had its head smashed in. Wrex, who seemed to have heard him, just let out a deep chuckle. They moved through until they came to where the path sloped down. For some reason, the Geth thought this the best place for an ambush, despite the fact that Shepard's team held the higher ground.

Wrex charged head long into the fire dropping a pair of Geth with twin blasts from his shotgun, his biotic barrier flaring as mass accelerator rounds impacted against it. He guessed that Meghann was not far behind, as the 'heads' of two nearby Geth suddenly snapped backward. Sniper fire from Shepard and Garrus dropped a pair of Shock Troopers attempting to fire rockets down on them.

He watched as Alenko lifted a Shock Trooper behind a boulder up for Williams to pepper with her HMWSR Assault Rifle. The last Geth rose up from behind his cover in defiance, despite the fact that its synthetic comrades had been mowed down with impunity. Meyek put a single round right through his 'head', shattering it and dropping the head less unit to the ground.

With that, the group continued pushing uphill toward a facility that Meyek could quite clearly see. However, as they came closer, Meyek seemed to notice something underneath one of the catwalks. Meghann noticed it too. "Everybody hold a sec," he whispered into his mic. The team came to a stop after a slight hesitation. "That look odd to anyone?" he asked as he sent a pict capture to their HUDs.

"Guess they were expecting us," said Shepard as she raised her rifle and put a single round through the Geth. "Shame…it was a half decent attempt." The drone of a Geth Dropship could be heard and the characteristic thud of Geth landing could be heard quite easily.

While Shepard, Williams and Garrus laid down Sniper fire on the advancing Geth Shock and standard Troopers, he poked out from behind cover and acquired a targeting solution on the Armature that was dropped off. A moment later, a pair of Exitus rounds tore through the Armature about the same time as the last Geth Trooper hit the rock floor with a dull thud.

"Well," he said as he stood back up, "That was easy." A quick check of his ammunition count told him that he had thirteen rounds left in the current magazine. Plenty. If this was what hunting this Saren was going to be like, then this was easy.

"Those Geth aren't even worth it," scoffed Wrex. "When's Saren going to send a real challenge our way?" he asked no one in particular as he continued walking.

"I..I think my eyeballs are dried out," said Williams. "This planet's temperature is plenty challenging."

"Heh, reminds me of home," said Wrex. Meyek was fine in his sealed suit, barely feeling the temperature. His body was also conditioned to take temperatures a lot more extreme than what a 'normal' human could withstand.

"Dig site's this way," said Alenko as he began walking up a ramp that led to some sort of tunnel into the rock face. Shepard tapped at her Omni-tool and the large door raised into its recess in the ceiling, allowing them to enter.

Cautiously, weapons up, they continued their advance down the tunnel into the dig site. The only sounds were the sounds of the boots of the rest of the group tapping against the concrete floor of the tunnel. But right as they were approaching the end, a single Geth trooper stepped out from the catwalk that the tunnel led to, only to take two blasts from Wrex's shotgun.

As much as working with xenos was strange, Meyek found that he had the start of a begrudging respect for Wrex's abilities. But the moment that happened, the entrance of the tunnel was sprayed with gunfire, a rocket narrowly missing Wrex's head. Wrex charged forward while Shepard and Williams sprayed assault rifle fire down on the Geth below. Alenko even lifted one up for Garrus to shoot through the head.

In their advance, Wrex and Meghann seemed to have found and elevator from what Meyek could see. "All clear," called Wrex over the comms.

"Dare you to spit over the side," said Williams, nudging Alenko in the ribs before she hastily added, "Sir."

"I'm going to have to pass on that one, Gunnery Chief," said Alenko as he gave a timid glance over the edge.

"Not scared of heights, are you Lieutenant?" asked Shepard, a cheeky smile on her face.

"No ma'am," said Alenko quickly; "Just afraid of falling to my own death is all."

Shepard continued to smile, "Carry on LT."

He turned to Garrus as an immature thought crossed his head, "Hey Garrus, could Turians ever fly?"

Garrus seemed to get the pointed joke at the avian anatomy of a Turian, and let out a short laugh, "I don't know about that, but I do know that if we can't swim now, I doubt we can fly."

Meyek didn't even need to look at the range finder readout on his HUD to be able to tell that a fall from this height would definitely kill anyone of them, "What about falling?"

"I'm sure we fall just as well as everyone else," said Garrus, not entirely amused given their current position, but still going along with it. With that, he and Garrus joined the others in the elevator as it began its descent down. As it descended, Meyek noticed a what looked like cells with an energy field projected at the entrance. The aesthetic was definitely similar, but at the same time distinct from what he'd seen of this galaxy.

"So, there are what Prothean ruins look like?" he asked as he noticed the elevator slow down.

"Well, I'm no Archeologist but yeah, I'd say they're Prothean," replied Lieutenant Alenko.

"What about you guys, any ancient dead aliens where you come from?" he asked, in a non-serious manner of course.

"Nah," said Meyek, waving him off. "Our ancient aliens are very much alive, and far too enigmatic for our tastes. They're just as likely to help you as they are to stab or shoot you in the back." He was speaking of, the Eldar of course.

"Thankfully they're but an unpleasant memory," said Meghann, breathing a sigh of relief. As the elevator came to a stop, Wrex and Meghann took point once more.

"Sterile white," said Wrex as he observed the ruins. "Protheans sure build things homey." Meyek was very much inclined to agree with him. Most ruins weren't comforting, but these Prothean ruins weren't something that made him feel at ease.

Just as Wrex took another step, a trio of Geth Assault Drones floated up from the lower levels. Wrex's shotgun took care of one, while Meghann's Bolt Pistol the other and Shepard took care of the third by discharging her HMWSR pistol into it.

"I'd give that attempt three out of ten," said Meyek as he walked toward the second elevator.

"I have a feeling that we're just getting a taste of what's ahead," said Shepard as she pressed the button once she made sure everyone was board. Once more the elevator started its descent, and Meyek continued to look around.

That was when the elevator started to slow and sparks started emitting from where it was connected into the guide rails before it screeched to a halt a good three feet above the clearly destroyed catwalk. "Well, that's…not good," said Garrus as adjusted his posture to maintain his balance.

"Guess we're finding another way up when we find Dr. T'Soni," said Shepard as she leapt off the elevator onto the damaged catwalk below. "Come on, let's keep moving."

"Right behind you, Shepard," said Garrus as he made to follow behind Shepard before Wrex beat him to the exit and leapt off.

"Hah, too slow, Turian," said Wrex as he began pushing up. Meyek just shrugged, for once he was not the one being loud and obnoxious. The rest of the squad followed without much event and they pushed forward until they were all taking up position in front of one of the little 'cells' that seemed to have an Asari, in what looked to be some sort of lab coat, suspended in some sort of energy sphere. That had to be Dr. T'Soni.

As Williams watched the stairs that led down with Alenko, he joined Shepard, Wrex, Meghann and Garrus in front of the 'cell'. "Are you okay?" asked Shepard after holstering her weapons. "Are you trapped in there?"

"Listen," said Dr. T'Soni. "This thing I'm in is a Prothean security device. I cannot move, so I need you to get me out of it. All right?" Meyek did a quick scan of the field, it looked like some variant of a kinetic barrier based on the data readouts being fed into his conscious, but he couldn't be sure just yet.

"How'd you end up in there?" asked Shepard, which admittedly was a valid question. He certainly wasn't going to be party in releasing her until she answered some questions. It could potentially be, a very well laid trap.

"I was exploring the ruins when the Geth showed up, so I hid in here. Can you believe that? Geth! Beyond the Veil!" explained Dr. T'Soni. Meyek's Spy Mask detected none of the telltale biological signs of a lie being told, also thanks to the data on Asari physiology provided by Ray. Apparently, it'd had been publically available on something called the 'Extranet'. Meyek found the very idea ludicrous, but the Vanus didn't care. Their mistake was his to exploit after all. "I activated the tower's defenses. I knew the barrier curtains would keep them out."

"Barrier curtains you say?" asked Meyek, interrupting her. "Like kinetic barrier curtains?"

"Yes, of course," said Dr. T'Soni, turning her head very slightly in his direction, giving him a wary look all the while. He was more than used to it, he tended to have that sort of effect on people. "But when I turned it on, I must've hit something I wasn't supposed to. I was trapped in here. You must get me out! Please!"

Once more, Meyek didn't detect any signs of lying. He opened a quick, comms channel to the Commander, "Shepard, she's telling the truth. No biological signs of her lying. No offense to her, but she hardly looks like a practiced liar, and if she is, then we blow her brains out. There's more than enough firepower between the five of us."

Shepard nodded, "Alright. Do you know if there's a way to lower the barrier curtain?"

"Not from where you're standing, no," replied the Asari. "You're going to have to find another way around."

"Actually," said Meyek, interjecting. "I may have an easier solution." Reaching into a pouch on his combat harness, he picked out a single .75 caliber shield-breaker round, one of the rarer rounds that he had. But this was one of those times that it would buy them valuable time. He loaded the round into his pistol after slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "Exitus Shield-Breaker round, makes short work of any shield I've ever had to fry."

He noticed that Dr. T'Soni was looking at his weapons with a mixture of interest and confusion, they were clearly not mass accelerator based weapons in any case. Shepard nodded, "Alright Meyek, go right ahead." The others stepped aside to give him some room to fire. Garrus, Wrex and Shepard all looked on with interest.

With a single practiced pull of the trigger, the pistol discharged with little more than a highly muffled cough. There was a small spark, barely discernable, where the round impacted and then the barrier was no more. "Now that is…new," said Dr. T'Soni, looking quite stunned at how her rescuers had managed to disable such advanced ancient tech so easily. "One of these panels behind me must be the one, please, hurry before the Geth return.

As Shepard tapped at the panel's holographic interface, she recalled Williams and Alenko, who joined them a moment later. Just about the same time that Dr. T'Soni was caught by Garrus as she fell. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem, Dr. T'Soni," said Garrus as he let go of her.

"Any idea how we get out of this place?" asked Wrex, clearly not interested in sticking around now that they'd got what they'd come for.

"There is an elevator back in the center of the tower. At least, I think it's an elevator. It should take us out of here. Come on!" said Dr. T'Soni.

Before long, they managed to find the elevator and they'd taken it up and out of the tower. Much like the rest of the ruins, it'd wasn't something Meyek was comfortable standing around. As soon as it'd come to a stop, Liara spoke up, "I—I still cannot believe all this. Why would the Geth come after me?"

"Saren's looking for the Conduit," said Williams. "Think fast Ms. Prothean expert."

T'Soni looked slightly confused about why the Turian Spectre would be looking for this 'Conduit', or what it had to do with the Protheans, "The Conduit? But I don't know –" It was at that point that Meyek's auspex scanner picked up several rapidly approaching contacts.

Spinning around, he dropped to one knee and brought his rifle up, but that was about when he saw a lot of Geth, and a Krogan at their head. Thanks to his fantastic peripheral vision afforded by the Spy Mask, he saw that the others took his cue as well, with Shepard pushing Dr. T'Soni behind her.

"Surrender," bellowed the Krogan. "Or don't, that'll be more fun." A toothy Krogan equivalent of a smile appearing on his face.

"He's mine!" bellowed Wrex as his biotics flared and he charged the Geth and the Krogan. That was when the rest of them opened up as well. Alenko and Dr. T'Soni lifted a Geth each for Williams and Garrus to blow its head off respectively. In the time it had taken them to do that, Meyek had already blown thee Geth to pieces, while Shepard had downed another.

He could see several bisected Geth, and knew that Meghann was most certainly responsible. With some quick shooting from Williams and Garrus, the last two Geth were down, leaving only the Krogan. Wrex had already given it a bloody nose; it's armor was pockmarked with shotgun blasts. Just as Wrex raised his arm to slam it into the wall with a biotic throw the Krogan's head progressively turned to mush from three impacts.

A short distance away from Wrex, Meghann decloaked, her in her extended arm was her borrowed suppressed Ikanos-pattern Bolt Pistol. "Grrr," growled Wrex as he turned to face her. "I said he's mine!" Wrex began angrily stalking toward her, putting everyone else quite on edge. Williams seemed to be the only one whose weapon was slowly being raised, and he most certainly was doing the same.

"You were taking too long," replied Meghann evenly as she lowered her weapon slowly. The two of them stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment before Wrex bellowed out laughing.

"You've got quite the quad on you human, I'll give you that. For a female too," said Wrex as he placed his shotgun back on his back. A smile formed on his face when he noticed that Meghann had her pistol aimed at him from her hip the entire time. Wrex extended his hand, which Meghann hesitantly clasped in response, resulting in Wrex giving it a hearty shake.

Shepard smiled and shook her head as she touched her hand to her ear, "Joker, bring the Normandy around. We're done here."

**Clade Vanus Operative Ray Arold**

Seeing as he wasn’t required to join Shepard and her team on their latest endeavor, to a boiling hot planet whose surface was largely magma and pathways hewn out of the rock between locations, he was quite happy about that. Bloodwing was perched nearby, watching out for his owner while he worked on absorbing all the information that he could through this ‘Extranet’.

Ray was convinced that putting vast quantities of information on a publically accessible network was a surefire way to remove data security and privacy for good. Already there were several attempts to gain access to the Normandy’s own network, however it’s cyber security protocols were holding. The Vanus Operative knew however that it was only a matter of time before an exploitation was found in a system, after all every armor had its weakness.

However, during his search, something came up that caught his attention. The planet that fleet had dropped out of the warp in proximity of, Ferrous Prime, was supposedly a ‘ghost planet’. According to the report that he was reading, any attempts had been met with failure. Anything and everything that was sent down to the planet, was never heard from again. However, one report that he’d found on a mining company’s back up database included a signal.

When Ray listened to what the signal was, his eyes widened in realization and he quickly worked on getting a secure vox line to the _Fist of Judgment_. A moment later the line was secured and a glyph appeared to signify that he could speak, “This is Operative Ray Arold, I need to speak with Lord Admiral Parrington, now.”


	4. Favors

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

It had been just over a few days since they had met with the Alliance officers, time that had been spent doing a complete inventory of what they had at their disposal as well as preparations for a journey down to the planet’s surface, especially given what Operative Arold had discovered. She wasn’t so sure that it was indeed the Mechanicus, despite the fact that the signal had been in binary, she wasn’t convinced that it indeed belonged to the Mechanicus. Hypax wasn’t so sure what to believe, either, hence their cautious approach.

Thalia let out a sigh, in the very least, they’d made some progress with the Alliance. During their meeting, Thalia had got quite a good idea of what sort of officers both men were. She had met many kinds in her considerably long and largely eventful military career. Hackett and Anderson were both good officers, and she could tell that they both had their hands tied for the most part by their civilian government. It took considerable study of the ‘codex’ supplied by the officers and the one taken from the ‘Turian’ ship to understand just what a stranglehold the civilian government had on the Alliance.

For the Lord Admiral, and the Imperial Armada at large, this had never really been a problem. The Emperor and Malcador the Sigilite were very accommodating, ensuring they had the very best they could, second only to the Legiones Astartes who they normally fought alongside. Part of her was somewhat relieved that they’d managed to escape what was happening to the Imperium, even though the rest of her decried it as traitorous. She had a strong feeling that they were looking at the last days of the Imperium.

Shaking her head from side to side slightly, she refocused her attention on the dataslate in front of her. Focusing on the day to day operations of the fleet was a mundane comfort that she was indulging in. It was the well-deserved respite that she never thought he needed. What she really wanted to do, seeing as she was really occupying her time with busy work, was go back to her quarters and spend some quality time with her husband. Something neither of them had done ever since they’d left Saturn. They’d left one galactic level threat and come to face another, perhaps it was fate, that was if she believed in such a thing. As a firm believer in the Imperial Truth, she did not, however she did now entertain the possibility that something or someone else had a hand in their current predicament.

Thalia had seen many a liar in her time, and when she saw Shepard, she saw a brave soldier trying desperately to gear up for a fight few believed was coming. Thalia knew there was some level of truth to this ‘Reaper’ threat, only a fool disregarded a threat completely. The throne agents were very good at gathering information as well as nipping threats before they’d fully reared their ugly head, and with any luck, that’s what they’d do to the Reapers by eliminating this Saren. Even then, the she couldn’t shake this uneasy feeling that it would not be the last of these Reapers.

The Mechanicus had managed finish the translators for Low and High-Gothic, thankfully they all had at least reasonable proficiency in the same dialect of Low-Gothic. But a fair number of the crew were picking up ‘English’ quite well. Quite honestly, she couldn’t have asked for her crew to be processing the change in a better way. Then again, they were the Imperial Armada, such was expected off them, even with the magnitude of the change they had to adjust to being so severe.

**Admiral Steven Hackett**

“We’re going to have to tell Shastri about them at some point,” said Rear Admiral Mikhailovich, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

“If we tell Shastri, the Council will find out about it before we can snap our fingers,” countered Hackett. The Alliance’s civilian leadership was what some would call spineless, far too eager to please the council. Dealing with the Imperium’s officers and their almost anti-alien stance was comforting. It certainly wasn’t as rabid as some of the anti-alien groups.

 “How do we know we can trust them?” asked Admiral Ines Lindholm. “I mean, what’s stopping them from wiping us out when they’re ready?” The thought had crossed Hackett’s mind, but he had a sneaking suspicion that even in their current position the Imperium wouldn’t have much difficulty in taking the Sol system in less than a week.

“Nothing, but maybe we should trust them based purely on the fact that they haven’t done that already,” said Admiral Nitesh Singh.

“Then there’s the issue of those Geth outposts in the Armstrong Cluster,” reminded Admiral Mikhailovich, frowning. “We’re spread already a little too thin to divert any units.”

“What about the Normandy?” asked Admiral Lindholm. “They were close enough to divert the last we knew. Shepard and her crew already have plenty more experience fighting the Geth than any other unit in the area.”

“Shepard’s currently occupied with hunting down Saren, and I’d rather not have to divert her unless we have no other options,” said Hackett. It was at that point, that he remembered what the Lord Admiral had said about their ‘duty’ to serve all mankind.  “But there is one more option.”

“And what might that be?” asked Admiral Lindholm, clearly curious about what Hackett had planned.

“I’ll admit, I’m intrigued to find out what this mysterious third option of yours is, Hackett,” said Admiral Singh.

“It’s very simple,” said Hackett as he leaned forward in his chair. “We ask our new allies for help. They mentioned they were devoted to helping all of mankind. Well, if the Geth are allowed to maintain this outpost, who knows what they’ll do. Quite honestly, they’re close enough and their abilities make them our best option.”

“It would give us a good opportunity to see just how they handle things,” noted Admiral Mikhailovich. “Show us just what they’re capable of.” Hackett agreed, which was one of the other reasons why he’d suggested it.

“Given their hatred of artificial intelligence, I’m sure that they’d be more than happy to assist,” added Hackett. “Are there any objections to this plan?” His question was met with silence, which gave him his answer. “Very well, this meeting is now adjourned. After the Geth have been dealt with, we’ll meet again to discuss the matter further.” The others got up and began to make ready to leave. Hackett let out a small sigh, he had a call to make.

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

“Ma’am, incoming communication from the Alliance,” said Captain Mojaro as she approached the command throne, interrupting the Lord Admiral’s musings. “I believe it is Admiral Hackett.” Normally, vox based communications at this range would be impossible, but with their systems able to interface with the Alliance comm buoys that was no longer so.

“Patch him through then,” said Thalia as she sat up straighter in her command throne. A fuzzy hologram of Alliance Admiral Steven Hackett appeared. “Admiral Hackett, to what do I owe this pleasure?” She had no doubt in her mind that the Alliance Admiral had contacted her to ask her to do something, this can’t have been anything else.

“I’ve talked to the other Admirals at Alliance Command, and we were unable to reach a decision regarding the supplies. However, a situation has come up that I was hoping you’d be able to help with,” said Hackett, his voice completely calm and level. It was, as the she’d predicted, but she had a good feeling that this situation was a little more than a simple request for aid.

“Just what might that situation be, Admiral?” asked Thalia, playing along, her tone polite and even.

“The Geth have set up outposts in the Skyllian Verge, particularly the Armstrong Cluster,” continued Hackett. “We think they’re setting up forward bases to attack our planets in the Cluster-“

That was all that she needed to hear, artificial intelligence that were attempting an attack on mankind, whether there were other motives or not the she didn’t care. She was going to make sure that they assisted, and he knew that he could count on her husband to feel the same way. “Send me the coordinates, we’ll show the Geth what comes of attacking the planets of mankind.”

There was a clearly perceptible pause before Hackett responded, “Done. I’ll keep Alliance units out of your way.” The less people that knew about them at the moment, the better.

“I’ll give the word to mobilize,” said Thalia, nodding. “Expect the Geth gone before long.”

“Of course, Admiral,” said Hackett. “Hackett out.” With that, the line went dead and the hologram of Hackett winked away.

Thalia turned toward Mojaro without missing a beat, “Get me Lord Marshall Lissie.” Mojaro nodded as she walked over to the communications station to oversee the orders being carried out. A moment later, a light mounted into the arm of her command throne blinked on to inform her that she was connected.

“Not tea time is it already dear? You wouldn’t happen to have anything for the boys and I to shoot at? They’re getting a tad restless,” asked Bertie, barely attempting to hide the fact that his men were still on edge quite well. Given that the cohorts had been ready to drop straight into a large-scale conflict, the peace was almost quite literally killing them. Any lesser unit might have descended into ill-disciplined behavior.

“Indeed I do, dear,” said Thalia, a smile forming on her face. “It would appear the Geth have decided to set up forward operating bases in Alliance space in preparation for an attack. Our friend in the Alliance, Admiral Hackett, has informed me that he’d be quite grateful should we assist. I naturally told him that it would be no trouble at all.”

“About damned time too,” said Bertie, audibly breathing a sigh of relief. “I expect that you’ve no doubt come up with a plan of attack?” Bertie did know her quite well after all.

The question brought a smile to her face, “I thought we’d take the ship and wipe out every single one of their outposts systematically?”

“Just like old times then?” asked Bertie, Thalia knew the smile on his face was as wide as the one on hers, if not wider.

“Just like old times,” repeated Thalia. “Tell your men we’re going hunting, and to ready for a warp jump as soon as the drive is charged.” Without waiting, she cut the line, knowing that the Bertie had work to do. “Captain Mojaro, inform head Navigator Caelan that he is to plot a course to the coordinates that we just received from Admiral Hackett, we’ll start with Maji, in the Vamshi system,” she said, looking up at where her executive officer was standing.

“Ma’am,” said Mojaro, snapping off a smart salute. “On it.” Mojaro activated her microbead as she carried out her orders.

“Helm, move us away from the fleet. Comms, inform Commodore Bast that he’s in command until my return. His orders are to hold the fleet in this position and to defend this location from any hostile or unknown contact. Master Gunner, begin charging our weapons, I want to be able to engage the moment we drop out of the warp,” said the Admiral, issuing out a steady stream of orders to his bridge crew.

A chorus of affirmative responses were sent back, and the Lord Admiral watched as the ship’s various stations jumped to life. She then keyed the ship-wide intercom, “This is Lord Admiral Parrington, the ship is now on full alert. All crew, action stations. Repeat, all crew assume pre-jump action stations.” She didn’t need to state that it was not a drill, the crew were more than aware that if he needed to issue the order personally and not over the cogitator readiness alert system, that she was serious.

Thalia felt the deck plate rumble beneath her as the ship accelerated away from the formation it was currently in. “Navigator Caelan reports course charted, ma’am,” informed Captain Mojaro. “Gellar fields active and at one hundred percent power. Warp drive charge at one hundred percent. We’re ready to jump on your command, ma’am.”

Lord Admiral Parrington took one look around the bridge of the _Fist of Judgment_ before she clicked on the intercom, “All crew, prepare for warp jump.” The various stations on the bridge moved to execute her command, and moments later a swirling purple-red hued portal appeared in front of the massive Imperial battleship which then disappeared inside it.

Once more, the black void of materium space was replaced by the nightmarish dimension of the warp, not that the Lord Admiral was foolish enough to look directly into it. Now, nothing more could be done until they dropped out at their destination, the planet Maji in the Vamshi system of the Armstrong cluster. The Geth, if they had a naval presence there that is, would not be expecting them to come from a system other than the relay system. Whether they were expecting them or not, the Lord Admiral had a strongly worded response, one that she was going to deliver with her guns.

**Lieutenant Galan Maxim, Corsair Void Bomber _Raider_ lead**

Now this was what Lieutenant Maxim liked, a good old-fashioned bombing run on a nice stationary target. Being cooped up on the ship this long was starting to drive him insane, especially after they’d told him to kiss his family good bye and tell them that he was going to do the Emperor’s will. He didn’t know _what_ was happening with all this crap going on, but if he was being honest he didn’t really care. Wherever they are now, whatever all this was? There was a chance to carry on the ideals of the Great Crusade, the ideals that made him sign up with the Saturnyne Ordo’s Navy.

As the craft’s pilot, he was the ranking officer aboard the ship, not counting it’s Tech-Priest and Enginseer who didn’t entirely fit perfectly into the rank structure. He didn’t mind though, Eridan was decent for a cog boy and Pytor knew what he was doing and stayed out of the way.

He checked his instrument panel, and the ship’s navigation systems told him that he was coming up on the target now. He clicked his helmet’s mic on, it being already connected into the ship’s intercom, “Alright boys, target’s about five clicks out. Let’s see those targeting cogitators get nice and warm, I want the Lord Admiral to be able to see this barbeque from orbit.”

Their target, a Geth outpost on some hill popped up. Galan trusted his life to his bombardier, Frederik, they’d been together ever since they’d deployed. Hell, Frederik had been his wingman in more ways than one, they were as close as friends could be. The targeting information popped up on his HUD and with a momentary glance at Frederik who was seated behind him, Galan watched as the bomber’s onboard systems picked up the targets in the base and selected two anti-ship armor piercing plasma missiles.

Two turrets turned to track them before the gunners annihilated them with a four-round burst of Lascannon fire from the forward two quad heavy Lascannon turrets, the almost white beams from the heavy lascannons turning them to slag. None of the crew were going to cheer, this was routine for them. Two missiles dropped out of the bottom of the craft as he put the bomber on an upward dive, retros burning to adjust their vector.

From below them, a massive blue hued explosion signaled the annihilation of their target. This time there was a ‘whoop’ from the crew, he and Frederik bumped gloved fists in celebration before they both returned their attention to the controls. Almost immediately, the auger array registered two contacts inbound on their position. They were large, 171 Imperial Standard meters, and they were moving fast.

“What in the Rings…” breathed Galan as he looked at the auger reading. “Targeting solutions, people. I don’t think they’re friendly.” That was of course an understatement. These two targets were on a clear intercept vector, and nothing on an intercept ever really intended to do anything less than blow you into space dust in his experience.

“Auger array detecting power build-up from the two targets, synonymous with weapons charging recorded during the first contact battle, Lieutenant,” droned Eridan as he turned from his console to Galan. Galan knew that the weapons barely scratched the _Fist of Judgement_ , but he wasn’t inclined on finding out what they did to the bomber.

“Brace for evasive maneuvers!” he barked, throwing the ship to the right just in time it would seem, a bright blue pulse flying right past them and glancing the shields. Immediately, ship’s systems warned him that a direct impact would collapse the void shields. Which to Galan made sense, these ships were about twice as large as the bomber and from what he’d been briefed, ships in this universe tended to have a spinal mass driver weapon.

“Pytor, power to the void shield from anywhere you can spare except for the guns and targeting cogitators” he said as he matched one of the hostile craft’s intercept vectors with one of his own. “Frederik, targeting solution on the on our starboard side!”

“You sure that’s a good idea, Galan?” asked Frederik as he began tapping away at the interface, identifying the auger return of the incoming craft on their starboard side as a target. “I mean, we don’t even know if we can hurt those things. Might just piss ‘em off.”

“Well we’ve already done that, and you know there’s only one way to find out,” said Galan as he watched the targeting data scrolling across his HUD, the ship’s cogitator banks analyzing the data and then reminding him to keep evasive maneuvers to a minimum and to stay on their current heading. “Besides,” he added, “I’ve got a good feeling about this given our track record.” The smoking Geth base behind them was just another tally on the long list of kills for the squadron.

“Heh, true enough,” replied Frederik, and a moment later their targets were in visual identification range. They looked like giant metallic beetles of some kind. They were quite off-putting to Galan, given they were crewed by some sort of abominable intelligence, he had no qualms with blowing them into the warp.

Four missiles dropped out of their rotary launch bays on the underside of the bomber and with frightening speed and accuracy smacked into the Geth Frigate on their right side, the ship’s cogitators having finally matched their targets with the ship profile data given to them by the Alliance. The explosion was blinding, and without the automatically polarizing canopy they’d have all been blinded by the massive plasma explosions.

When the windows de-polarized, the charred and almost unrecognizable wreck of the Geth frigate falling to the ground could be seen. A cheer went up among the crew once more, and Galan, remembering what had happened with the Turian ships and energy based weapons, gave the order for his gunners to open up, “All gunners, give the other guy hell!”

As the bomber banked around the rear of the craft, some sort of energy weapon in the ultraviolet spectrum smacked into their void shields. The bomber shook, but nothing else happened. ‘Okay, I’ll take that…’ thought Galan, surprised that it didn’t really do anything. He knew the void shields were rated to take the edge off of most point defense weapons, but this damn thing didn’t even threaten to collapse field integrity. Fighters and bombers here must have been made of paper.

Heavy lascannon fire smacked into the other craft, and like Galan had predicted, the craft’s ‘kinetic barriers’ didn’t kick in, and the lascannon blasts made large but perfectly neat glowing holes in the hull. The dorsal and rear mounted twin las talons began lighting up the craft’s engines, and Galan saw them flicker once. If he had to guess, a power conduit or something must have been severed, because the Geth ship began to slow down.

It was enough to allow him to throw the bomber into a tight turn and face them toward the stricken Geth ship once more. It was too close to use the missiles again, and so once more heavy lascannon and las talon fire streaked out from the ship’s turrets. Galan saw the engines wink out, and the ship began to list to the right, the ‘crew’ furiously trying to slow their descent with thrusters.

Galan was about to call in that they’d finished their first objective and that they were en-route to their second when micro-explosions began occurring across the hull of the second Geth Frigate. Galan didn’t need to be told to maneuver out of the way, but the problem was they were a little close for comfort. The bomber shook and suddenly began listing to the left.

Now it was Galan who was fighting for altitude with the retros and compensating by lowering thrust on the right thruster bank. “Eridan, Pytor, someone talk to me!” he barked as he wrestled with the bomber’s normally responsive controls. “What the hell’s happening.”

“Debris velocity low enough to pierce our void shields, debris severed main and secondary fuel line to engines. Backup tertiary fuel lines will need to be connected manually. However, connection at this velocity is impossible, risk of permanent systems damage too high,” intoned Eridan, monotone vox-distorted voice filtering in though Galan’s helmet’s internal speakers.

“Frak!” cursed Galan, tempted to take his frustration out on his seat’s armrest but stopping himself. “We’re not going to be able to stay long in the air like this…Once we get the line repaired, can we get this bird back in the air?”

“Probability of taking off are in the ninety ninth percentile, enemy fire not factored for,” replied Eridan.

“Those aren’t bad odds,” said Galan, nodding appreciatively as he thought about their next move. He found a flat enough patch of land to set the bomber down and he began cutting back on their thrust to prepare for a landing. Even if their forward thrust was compromised, the retros were intact enough to allow a vertical landing. “Frederik, get on the vox and tell Lord Admiral Parrington that primary objective is complete, but we’re going to need someone to watch our backs down here while we fix up.”

“You got it, boss,” said Frederik as he opened a line to the _Fist of Judgement_ in orbit. “ _Fist of Judgement_ , this is _Raider_ lead, come in.”

“ _Fist of_ Judgement, here. Go ahead, Raider lead.” came the response from the capital ship, one of the flight control officers who Galan hadn’t actually met. They were on short rotations off late to keep as many people as possible doing things.

“Objective one complete, but we’ve taken damage and will need to land to effect repairs. Requesting ground support while we effect repairs, over,” said Frederik in response, suppressing the urge to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Understood, _Raider_ lead, dispatching support now. Are you able to complete secondary once repairs are effected, over?” asked the flight controller.

“Affirmative, over,” said Frederik. Throughout their careers together, Galan had never found any of his crew mates to be quick to give up. So as he closed off the promethium fuel pumps to engines, the whine of the engines dying down, he lowered the landing gear and began firing retros to ensure they had as soft a landing as was possible.

“Understood _Raider_ lead, stay safe down there. _Fist of Judgement_ , out,” came the reply from the flagship, and then the line went dead.

By this time, the bomber was on its final approach, one final burst from the retros before he could fire them during their vertical descent. “Alright crew, final approach, gears out. Make sure you’re strapped in now.” Of course, they were all strapped in as per protocol for combat operations, but never hurt to be too careful now.

The bomber kicked up dirt all around it as it made it’s descent, finally dropping onto its landing struts with a muffled _thud_. Galan let out a sigh of relief, and as he turned to tell Tech-Priest Eridan to get to work, said Tech-Priest told him that last thing that he wanted to hear, “Auger returns detected. Signatures concurrent with Geth infantry and larger automata.”

“Crew, combat stations!” barked Galan as he unbuckled himself from his flight seat, Frederik doing the same from beside him. “Eridan, can we stay powered on while you get the tertiary line up and running?”

“The tertiary pump remains unconnected to the ship’s main power grid, connection to the grid while it is active could result in a short circuit with a large non-zero probability,” replied Eridan over the ship’s intercom while he began making his way toward the maintenance corridor. “Keeping the ship in low power mode would allow for a limited charge to weapons and keep other key systems active. Void shields would remain offline.”

Galan weighed his options, and on doing so came to the realization that he didn’t really have any. “You heard the man,” he said, turning to the four gunners with Frederik standing by his side. “Grab your weapons, let’s give these Geth a good old fashioned Saturnyne welcome!”

A quick few taps at his gauntlet’s integrated dataslate and the weapons locker opened with a hiss from the door’s hydraulics. He walked over to the locker and pulled out a pair of Ursh-pattern Assault Shotguns, massive magazine fed fully automatic shotguns, same variant used by the crewman aboard most Saturnyne warships.

He tossed them over to two of the crewmen along with a few spare mags before turning his attention back into the weapons locker and taking two of the four Anatolian Lascarbines that were inside, and along with their power cells he tossed them to the remaining two crewmen.

Tossing one to Frederik and then taking one for himself, Galan slammed a new power cell into the weapon. His features twisting into a smile under his helmet as the weapon came to life. He pointed at two of his men and then said, “You two, man the guns and keep an eye the ventral access hatch. They start cutting through, give us a yell. The rest of you, come with me, we’re going to wait for those tin cans at the boarding ramp.”

Putting the craft into low power mode with a series of commands from his terminal, Galan watched as the lights shut off, red ‘emergency’ lighting flickering to life in select locations. Thankfully, their helmets had integrated photo-visors, giving them the ability to see better in low light. Immediately, their helmets’ visors did exactly what they were designed to.

Galan, Frederik and the two gunners made their way toward the corridor that led to the airlock at the rear ramp. Taking up positions on either side of the hallway, they aimed their guns at the airlock. “Not an inch, we don’t let those bastards get past us. For Saturn and Terra, boys.” There was no cheering, this wasn’t a propaganda vid, there was just the silence of grim determination setting in.

**Lieutenant Alysha Blashak**

Against the dark void of space, noticing a single Ursh-pattern Prowler gunship with its rad-shrouded armor, carefully controlled emissions, engine baffles, deactivated transponder and vox systems was next to impossible. Once it started to break atmo, it’s multi-spectral camouflage system prevented detection by more direct means, such as by visual means. The craft was a marvel of engineering, and existed for the sole reason that the Saturnyne Ordo had access to some of the best engineers in the Imperium.

The Alliance with the Imperium meant and Alliance with Mars, and with Mars gladly taking on many of the manufacturing burdens earlier left on the shoulders of Tech-Adepts of Saturn. Even so, these craft were rare and highly prized, their pilots carefully chosen from a stringently tested pool of candidates. That part, Lieutenant Blashak knew all too well, even if she thought that the rest of it was her commanding officer trying scare her into being very gentle with the craft, but she knew one thing for sure, and that was that this bird was for the most part just a dressed-up Raven.

Alysha had been flying Raven gunships for most of her adult life now, almost a decade now. This particular Prowler had been hers for around four years now, and she and her co-pilot Frye had been carting around Major Thule and his Veletaris ever since they put her at the controls. Thule was an old hat, the man had been around since the 21st first set out, and it was for that reason that she sort of hung onto every word he said. “Stealth systems active, Major. Doesn’t look like those oversized tin cans have noticed us,” she said over the gunship’s intercom.

“Understood, Lieutenant. Keep me posted, they so much as twitch in our direction I want to know,” he said, pausing for a moment before he added, “Don’t want to disturb the ant-hill, now,” borrowing from an ancient Terran saying.

“Got it, sir,” she said, returning her focus to flying. Alysha was the first female member of the Blashak family to join the Saturnyne Ordo Navy, and it seemed that she was also going to be the last. The Saturnyne Ordo’s Navy was to be disbanded and remaining assets folded into a unified Terran command according to their latest orders. The suicide mission was to be their last, but now…well, now she had no idea what was to become of the fleet as a whole, let alone her own future plans.

Atmospheric re-entry was about was uneventful as it had always been, the Veletaris’ pre-mission banter was always great, but she’d gotten used to that at this point, so it was nothing more than routine. The machine spirit handled switching from the rocket-engines to the plasma forced air ramjet, while Frye focused on keeping the stealth systems active and monitored for active threats, so all she really had to do was focus on flying.

Their approach vector had taken them on the fastest path to the downed bomber, and she began to get the first auger array returns from the parked bomber. The damage wasn’t bad, she had to give Galan credit, he certainly knew how to fly that massive beast of a void bomber. She’d have been flying one of them too, if she hadn’t insisted on switching to dropship piloting, even though her scores could have landed her a fighter squadron of her own someday.

She didn’t want that though, she wanted to fly the boys and girls of the Rams down to their assignments, and she’d done so for many years. Her mother being an Rams tank commander influencing this decision in no small part. Her father was the Executive Officer on the Avenger-class Grand Cruiser _Redoubtable_ , and though initially he made a very poor attempt to hide his mild disappointment, he was very happy when he’d learned that she’d made squadron leader and not only that but she’d been assigned to fly the Lord Admiral and Lord Marshall down during their meeting with Lord Commander Namatjira of the 670th Imperial Expedition Fleet.

To ensure that they weren’t lit up by their own friendlies, she had to instruct Frye to turn their transponder back on, “Frye, turn on the transponder, would you? Don’t want them to have to deduct this bird’s repair costs from our pay when the boys on the ground light us up, do you?” Once they opened fire, the bomber’s auger array at this range wouldn’t have a problem finding them, so better safe than sorry in her opinion.

“Got it boss,” returned Frye. “Auger returns coming back loud and clear, they’ve got some Geth problems. Gun turrets are still, must be out of juice. Want to join the party, boss?” he asked, a quartet of advancing Geth walkers that were still out of range of the bomber showing up quite clear on their ground tracking auguries.

“Shit Frye, if this is how long you take to ask a girl…” she teased, trailing off as she passed off targeting control to the targeting servitor wired into the craft, her finger on the trigger as she waited for the indicator glyphs to turn green. Four glyphs representing four Kraken penetrator missiles turned green, and with a swift, practiced motion she fired all four. The pair of rotary launchers on the underside of the dropped all four missiles in quick succession, and they streaked forward and smacked into the Geth Colossi with deadly precision, claiming them in the explosions that ensued.

 Kicking the gunship into a vectored and retro thruster aided aileron turn that faced them toward the bomber and behind the advancing Geth with practiced ease, she looked at the Geth advancing on the bomber. The ramp was down, and red ruby beams of las fire from streaking out from inside. Firing the retros to keep them as low as possible but still in the air, she clicked her mic on, “Your turn, Frye.”

“Thought you’d never ask, boss,” said Frye as he took manual control of the chin mounted Avenger Gatling Bolt Cannon, a moment later he sprayed a hail of semi-armor piercing mass-reactive bolt rounds at the Geth infantry, scything them down like farming servitors to crop.

It was at that moment that the vox came to life, and Alysha heard Galan’s voice filter in through her helmet’s internal speakers, “ _Wraith_ lead, that isn’t you out there, is it?”

“One and the same,” replied Alysha as she kept the gunship steady, beginning her descent so that she could drop Major Thule and his men off. “Brought some friends, hope you don’t mind.”

“Hell, I’ll take anyone right about now,” came Galan’s response, the sounds of las weapon fire in the background. “I sure as the Throne won’t say no to a squad of Veletaris. Didn’t know we were that big a deal.”

“Sit tight, then, let us handle this,” said Alysha as she lowered the landing gear, before switching over to the intercom, “Touchdown in two, standby.” The craft touched down on its landing struts and Alysha lowered the rear ramp with the push a button on her console. “Touch down, green light!”

She could hear Thule bark out orders even sitting in the cockpit, and a smile flickered across her features. The Veletaris stormed down the ramp and gave the Geth hell. Rotor Cannon fire sent round after round into them, forcing them to try and seek cover or be cut down before plasma and Volkite fire rained in on them. The Geth were caught off guard by the attack and even though some of them turned to return fire, it was largely ineffective. Caught between the crew and the Veletaris, the Geth were wiped out.

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov**

Meyek had been to many post mission debriefs in his life, but really none was more awkward than this one. Maybe it had to do with that fact that Dr. T’Soni was a civilian, or maybe it was because she kept looking at him and his other two fellow assassins. Or maybe it was because she was far too grateful to Shepard. Yes, Shepard did save her, but it wasn’t alone. Meyek really couldn’t understand it, not one bit. Well, at least one person was asking the right questions, he had to give the credit to Lieutenant Alenko for that, “What did Saren want with you, do you know something about the conduit?”

“Only that it was linked to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them,” admitted Dr. T’Soni. Fifty years wasn’t that long, granted compared to how long people lived in this existence it was a certainly considerable, but Meyek’s mentor had served the Officio Assassinorum for longer. Granted, that was with the use of life extending treatments, but in his time, he’d killed more threats to the Imperium than Meyek could count. He couldn’t understand how this Asari had spent fifty years…doing nothing, really.

Of course, since that was still largely inconceivable thought to the other humans in the room, Shepard decided to ask about it with a less than well-hidden look of surprise on her face, “Just how old are you, exactly?”

A look of embarrassment appeared on Dr. T’soni’s face, “I hate to admit it, but I am only a hundred and six.” Meyek assumed that such an age was young for an Asari. Then again, the best often start young. Ray, Meghann and himself had started young as well, Shepard too.

“Damn, I hope I look that good when I’m your age,” blurted out Gunnery Chief Williams.

“A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours. But among the Asari, I am barely considered more than a child,” informed Dr. T’Soni. “That is why my research has not received the attention that it deserves. Because of my youth, other Asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the Protheans.”

“I’ve got my own theory on why the Protheans disappeared,” said Shepard, leaning against the railing, her arms crossed. Meyek and his fellow assassins shared a look, they’d all heard this one.

“With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The Protheans left remarkably little behind,” said T’Soni, a slight hint of annoyance in her tone. If Shepard detected it, she didn’t show it at all. “It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery solved. It’s like someone came along after the Protheans and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part. According to my findings, the Protheans were not the first to vanish. This cycle began long before them.”

“Where’d you come up with this theory,” asked Shepard. “I thought there wasn’t any evidence.”

“I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge. Patterns that hint at the truth,” said Dr. T’Soni, perhaps a tad defensively. “It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case. It is more a feeling derived from half a century of dedicated research. But I know I’m right. And eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the Protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over.”

“If the Protheans weren’t the first, then who was?” asked Shepard.

“I don’t know. There is barely any evidence on the Protheans. Even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory. But I know I am right!” replied Dr. T’Soni, the conviction in her voice was apparent. Meyek’s spy mask showed that she wasn’t displaying any of the telltale signs of lying. It was at this point, that Dr. T’Soni found herself the subject of many skeptical looks. “The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The Protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy. Yet even they climbed to the top on the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements, the mass relays and the Citadel – are based on the technology of those who came before them. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the Protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why.”

Shepard had a knowing look on her face, “They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers.”

“Sounds awfully convenient, we know,” interjected Meyek, only to earn him a jab in the ribs from Meghann, and a look from Ray. “What? It does.”

Liara however, looked and sounded both troubled and confused, “The – Reapers? But I have never heard of – How do you know this? What evidence do you have?”

“There was a damaged Prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain. I’m still trying to sort out what it all means,” said Shepard. Well, in Meyek’s opinion, if you were going to say something as crazy sounding as that, you may as well go the whole hog.

“Visions? Yes…that makes sense,” said Dr. T’Soni before she was interrupted.

“It does? Huh…who’d have thought that?” asked Meyek. This time it earned him a sharp whack to the back of his head that served quite well to shut him up.

Shepard just shook her head at his antics and motioned for Dr. T’Soni to continue, “Go ahead, Dr. T’Soni.”

“Well, the beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user,” clarified Dr. T’Soni. “Finding one that still works is extremely rare. No wonder the Geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon – even a damaged one is worth almost any risk. But the beacons were only programmed to work with Prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed in the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander.”

“This isn’t helping us find Saren. Or the Conduit,” said Alenko, the impatience in his voice quite apparent to anyone really.  

“Of course. You are right. I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit. Or Saren,” admitted Dr. T’Soni.

Before anyone could protest, Shepard stepped in, “I don’t know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I think we’ll be a lot better off if we bring you along.”

“Thank you, Commander.  Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge of the Protheans might be useful later on,” said Dr. T’Soni.

“After the ass kicking you gave his Geth, I don’t think he’s dumb enough to try that anytime soon,” said Ray, not looking up from his cogitator gauntlet.

“Her biotics will come in handy if he is,” added Wrex, letting out a short chuckle.

Shepard nodded, “Good to have you on the team, Liara.”

“Thank you, Commander. I am very grateful – whoa. I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed.”

“When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you,” suggested Alenko.

“It is probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of discovering the Protheans’ true fate. I need some time to process all this,” said Dr. T’Soni. Meyek wished he could take shock as well as she was, if this was how she took shock that is. “Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished here, Commander?”

“We can talk again after you’ve seen the doctor. The rest of you…dismissed!” declared Shepard.

“Finally,” said Meyek as he jumped to his feet, standing in place for a moment as he waited for Ray and Meghann to get up. Together, they made their way out of the room, wordlessly they were about to return to the cargo bay together when he heard Lieutenant Alenko call out to them.

“Hey, we were about to get some coffee, you guys want to join us?” asked Alenko. Meyek had no idea what coffee was and so turned and gave him a very confused look. Which, because of his Vindicare spy mask was not perceived at all.

“It’s basically recaf,” said Ray, knowing that his two fellow assassins would be confused about it. There were certainly discrepancies between the existences they came from, but to a large degree, there was always parallels that one could draw.

“As long as Meyek isn’t making it,” said Meghann, turning and giving Meyek a knowing look.

 Meyek held his hands up defensively, “Hey, how was _I_ to know that Rahzvod and recaf was a crap combination?”

Ray’s face contorted into a confused expression, “I still don’t even know where you got that Rahzvod, and it’s my _job_ to know things.”

“Well…I may or may not have appropriated some from the officer’s mess,” admitted Meyek rather sheepishly.

Alenko and Williams shared a look, smiling at each other. “Don’t worry about it, LT’s going to be making the coffee. He does a good job of it, too.”

Alenko led the way down toward the mess, shrugging, “I like to make myself useful is all.” Meyek noted that along with Williams they were quite a large group travelling down to the mess hall, and in the crowded ramp it was somewhat claustrophobic.

Even so, it was a quick walk, soon they were seated at the table as they waited for Alenko to finish with the coffee. The three assassins sat on the side of the table closest to the ship’s nose, with perfect views of both sides of the ramp, as well as the entrances to the Captain’s cabin and Med bay both within their peripheral vision. With his Vindicare Spy Mask, he could see every single thermal signature resembling life and it’s inbuilt auspex scanner informed him of everything around him that was moving.

“You guys take your coffee black, right?” asked Alenko standing by the coffee machine. Meyek frowned, not really knowing what he meant by that. Alenko clarified, “Without cream or sugar, that is.” Once more, he was met with silence, “You know what sugar is, right?” he asked, turning away from the machine and giving them all a quizzical look.

“Sugar in coffee…” wondered Meyek out loud. “That’s a thing?” In all the years he’d had recaf, he’d never really had sugar in it, or…cream. Well, for one, such things weren’t exactly lying around for them to consume. He wasn’t sure how it was for other branches of the Imperium, but for his fellow assassins, it certainly wasn’t a common sight.

Ray looked from Alenko, and then back to Williams, “Well, you see, the Clades we trained under don’t exactly care how we take our recaf. Emphasis is placed away from personal comforts and more on making sure we can get our jobs done no matter the cost. I’m sure Meyek and Meghann can attest to that.”

“Sounds rough,” said Williams. “And I don’t mean because you don’t get cream and sugar in your coffee. You made it seem like every moment of your time there was spent on making sure that you could get your jobs done.”

“Every moment was spent making sure we were the best,” corrected Meghann. “We needed to be, for what we were doing, there is and was no one else who could do it. We were all that stood between a decisive victory and a pyrrhic one in many cases. The unseen hand acting so that others wouldn’t have to.”

“You really believe that?” asked Alenko. “I mean, I don’t want to insult anyone here, but the Alliance had black ops groups too. Didn’t work out so well for us.”

“The Alliance isn’t dealing with a galaxy spanning Empire, beset by traitors and aliens who’d all see fit to dance on our collective graves,” said Meyek, cutting in. “No offense, of course.”

Alenko looked as though he was about to say something and then just nodded, “I remember what the Lord Admiral said, it’s hard to believe is all. It’s hard to…imagine. Was there ever a time when the Imperium wasn’t under attack?”

Meyek shrugged, “Beats me, when I was born, we were already fighting. I heard that when we set out to reunite the scattered worlds, we were met with limited resistance initially. Unfortunately, that’s not the world we left behind.” He paused for a moment, and noticing the somber tone that had set in, he added, “But we’re not going to let Saren do that here. With the commander spearheading the offensive, we’ll kick his ass into whatever hole his Reaper masters came from.”

Alenko nodded once, thoughtfully, “Well said, I guess if you guys think we can do it, then we’ve got no reason to think we can’t.” Meyek knew that Saren wasn’t nearly as dangerous as some of the foes the Imperium had faced before, but to think that this would be over easy was a fool’s assumption. No, he had a feeling that they were going to have to deal with a lot more before this was well and truly over. “Anyway,” he said as he placed three mugs of coffee in front of each of them before placing one in front of Williams and finally taking one for himself. “At least I know how you guys drink your coffee now.”

“Well then you guys better finish that coffee by the time we’re on location,” came Shepard’s voice as she walked down the ramp, coming into a view a moment later.

“We got a new job, commander?” asked Alenko, taking a sip of his still very warm coffee, wincing as soon as he did so. Meyek couldn’t help but in the least smile to himself at Alenko’s indiscretion.

“Whoa there, Alenko, no need to burn your mouth now,” said Shepard, a smile forming on her face. “Just make sure you guys are ready to go, once we’re there I’ll figure out who I’m taking down with me.”

“What’s the job, commander?” asked Williams, looking up from her steaming cup of coffee. “We got another lead on Saren?” Given the commander’s lack of urgency, Meyek had a good feeling that it wasn’t a lead on Saren, but something of importance nonetheless.

“We got a tip off about some red sand dealers who dabble in slavery,” said Shepard, pausing for a minute before letting out a sigh. “I know we’re supposed to focus on finding Saren, but I think this warrants a diversion. We’re the only unit in the who can drop in and get this done quick and clean.”

“Just how many dealers are we talking about here?” asked Meyek, not knowing what red sand was, but the contextual clue was clear enough for him to identify it as some manner of illegal substance. He however, was more concerned about just how many of them there were. Depending on Shepard’s answer to that question, the ease with which they could be dealt with could be determined easily.

“There are two bases,” answered Shepard. “One in Mavigon in the Han system and Klensal in the Dis system.” Ray immediately looked down at his cogitator gauntlet, the display of which only he could see, thanks to his ocular implants. Meyek suddenly, had an idea. If they had to deal with both bases, with the Normandy waiting for the ground operation to complete and only then picking up the away team, it would be a colossal waste of time.

“Only, both planets are frigid, and not _all_ of us have atmospherically sealed suits,” said Ray, giving Meyek a look of annoyance.

Shepard frowned, turning from Meyek to Ray, “So the two of you don’t.” Then, she turned back to Meyek, “But Meyek, does?” Callidus were infiltration specialists, and it turned out that while it kept the user safe from inhaled gasses, poison and the like, it merely filtered them out, and didn’t have its own self-contained air supply.

“Sure,” said Ray, nodding as though it were common knowledge. “Clade Vindicare operatives are supposed to lay in wait for their targets in any environment for _stupid_ amounts of time. Of course their suits are atmospherically sealed. You’d think that’d make him the most patient out of all of us, but that isn’t the case is it now, Shepard?”

Even though she didn’t know him for very long, Meyek knew what Shepard’s answer was going to be, and a smile formed on her face as she delivered it, “No, he isn’t all that patient.” She furrowed her brows in thought, “But that did give me an idea. If I drop off you, Garrus, Wrex and Tali on Klensal, I can take Liara, Kaidan and Ashley to Mavigon. Once we’re done there, we can link up.”

Meyek nodded slowly, her squad choices made sense. He, Garrus and Wrex made up the combat abilities of the unit, while Wrex also added his considerable biotic strength to the mix. Tali could support them all with her tech abilities, which were apparently quite considerable as well. He hadn’t really got a chance to see them in action.

While Shepard’s unit had two of the best biotics on the ship, as well as Shepard and Williams’ own combat skills. Williams’ armor according to what he’d seen could take a punch and keep going. So, she served a similar role to the one played by Wrex on theirs.

“Alright Shepard, you got me, I guess I can’t suggest an idea and not take part,” said Meyek, rolling his eyes under his mask. Standing up and picking up his mug, “I’ll go and find Garrus and tell him he’s going to have to deal with me for a while.” He could hear Shepard chuckling as he walked toward the elevator down to the cargo bay, tilting his mask up so he could taste the coffee, which had cooled sufficiently at this point.

Tilting the mug into his mouth, Meyek closed his eyes for a moment to appreciate the taste. Of course, a moment for a Vindicare was a lot shorter than one for anyone else, except perhaps an Eldar or another assassin. He hit the elevator call button with his free hand, causing it to beep and the mechanics to whirr as the lift rose up the shaft.

The elevator opened and Meyek stepped inside, pressing the button on the inside and then watched as the doors closed and the elevator descended down to the lower deck. The door opened and the Vindicare stepped out, finding Garrus without any problems whatsoever. The Turian was working on his rifle.  As far as Meyek understood, the rifle that Shepard had managed to procure as a Spectre for her crew was almost as rare as the Exitus Rifle. This was of course taking into account the number of Clade Vindicare operatives compared to the number of Spectres he assumed there were.

“Come to gloat about how many kills you managed on Therum?” asked Garrus, not looking up from the rifle, which was disassembled into its base components. “Or is this you just coming down to say hello?” He then sniffed at the air, “Is that coffee? Hmmm…I suppose it’s normal to assume there’s coffee or something similar to coffee where you come from.”

“If I didn’t know better, Garrus,” said Meyek, a smile forming on his face as he regarded the Turian and then the disassembled rifle on the workbench in front of him. “I’d say you’re trying very hard to keep up with my kill count.”

“How about you give me that rifle and let me have a try with it?” asked Garrus as he slowly began reassembling the rifle. “That might – what’s it you humans say, even the odds?”

Meyek would have never even considered giving a xenos his rifle, not even over his dead body. However, while that was still the case here, the fact remained that Garrus wouldn’t be able to fire his rifle. “I could give it to you Garrus, but you have to answer a question first.”

Garrus let out the Turian equivalent of a sigh as he attached what Meyek could see was a very interesting looking barrel, it looked far smoother than any other barrel he’d seen. He’d have to ask Garrus about this later. “And what’s that?”

“How attached are you to your shoulder?” asked Meyek, chuckling at his own joke as he waited for the Turian to respond, and was even more happy as a look of sheer confusion formed on Garrus’ face.

“You know what?” asked Garrus as he placed the mass accelerator system on top of the barrel, this time Meyek could see it seemed to be a modified version of the standard mass accelerator, a ‘Scram Rail’ based on what he’d assimilated off of the ‘Extranet’.  “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.”

“Awesome,” said Meyek, happy that he’d satisfied what he saw as untoward interest in his rifle. “What’s that? Looks different than what’s normally shoved in a rifle around here.”

“Well,” said Garrus as the rifle began to take more of a shape. “I’ve got a frictionless barrel to reduce the thermal strain on the rifle and increase the velocity of the round, as well as a scram rail accelerator. Should make dropping the larger Geth a lot easier.” Once Garrus was done, the rifle returned to its folded state with the press of a button. “Or you know, a charging Krogan.”

“Fancy,” said Meyek, nodding appreciatively at the rifle. As far as he knew, and he did know a lot about his rifle, it didn’t have a frictionless barrel. The Mechanicus might want one of these, or maybe the Lord Admiral and Lord Marshall could just ask Hackett for a couple to test out. “But don’t we have our own to deal with those?”

At that, they heard a voice that sounded distinctly like Wrex’s call out from the other end of the room, “I heard that.”

“No offense, big guy,” called Meyek back quickly, not wanting to test the rifle’s Krogan stopping abilities in the close confines of the cargo bay. Wrex just let out a grunt in response. He turned back toward Garrus, “Hey Garrus, you don’t think I could get one of those barrels, do you?”

“I don’t see why not,” said Garrus, giving him the Turian equivalent of a shrug. “I mean, I have no idea how that thing works, so don’t ask me for help in putting it in your rifle.” He took a small case from under the workbench and handed it to him.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m just going to hand it to the Mechanicus the next time we’re in the neighborhood of those red-robed eggheads,” said Meyek, having picked up several slang words such as this with a fair degree of ease.

Garrus nodded, and was silent for a good minute before asking, “They _are_ human under there, aren’t they?”

Sometimes, Meyek himself wasn’t sure at all. The truth was however, that to some degree they were, “Yeah…not entirely, but they are.”

Garrus shook his head in disbelief, “I’m sure you didn’t come down here to just to talk.” He placed the rifle on the back of his armor. Unlike the human crew, Garrus, Wrex and Tali’Zorah didn’t take off their armor. Quarians couldn’t for fear of infection as he’d read on the Extranet, and Wrex he understood being a mercenary was suspicious but he didn’t know Garrus’ reasons.

“Alright Garrus,” he said, taking a sip of coffee. “You got me. I didn’t come here to talk. Shepard’s got a job for us. There are some Red Sand Dealers on Klensal who dabble in slavery. Shepard wants you, me, Tali and Wrex to deal with them while she deals with another base of theirs on Mavigon.”

Garrus seemed to become more serious at the mention of their mission, “We get any intel to go with this op?”

“Yep,” he replied, a smile forming on his face. “It’s pretty damn chilly, so pack a scarf.”  As he spoke, he could hear Wrex walking over. Of course, you’d have to be half deaf to _not_ hear Wrex.

“Heh, so Shepard sent you down here to tell us that she’s got a job for us?” asked Wrex, the skepticism in this voice quite apparent. “Now why do I have a hard time believing that?”

“Because she didn’t,” said Meyek, turning around to look at Wrex. “I thought I’d come down here and tell you guys myself.”

Wrex grunted, “Well, someone better get the Quarian then.” Meyek had observer Wrex enough to know that it wasn’t him being rude or any on those lines, he just tended to refer to people in that way.

It was then that the hatch to the Mako opened and Tali stepped out, “And why should someone go and get the Quarian?” The three of them gave her a confused look before she added, “Shepard said I could tweak the Mako’s scanners to so that we can pick up Geth better. In fact, she told me that I should do it.” 

Without waiting for anyone to answer her, Meyek clapped his hands together, “Good, we’re all here now.” Without needing his thermal sensors, he could tell that the coffee in the mug was cool enough for him to swig, and so he did so and then lowered his mask in place. “Shepard says we’ve got to deal with some red sand dealing thugs who deal in slavery from time to time, something about how we’re the only unit in the area who can get it done quick and clean. So, to save time we’re splitting up and dealing with two bases, we’re going after their base at Klensal and Shepard’s taking another team to deal with Mavigon.”

He stopped talking, which was a miracle, to let it settle into their heads. It was then that Garrus broke the silence that had set in, “Well, this is going to _so_ well.”

_Two hours and a lot of bitching later_

Meyek was laying in the snow on the same mountain the base was built on top of. He had to say, the top of this hill was conveniently flat. Did they call that a plateau or was that just a flat hill because it’s too small to be a small plateau? Or was it just a small plateau? Oh well, it didn’t really matter as they’d managed to get up here without too many problems. He really, _really_ didn’t like this snow however. Well, he hated the wind more. It seemed determined to shove snow up where the sun didn’t shine, but even then, he didn’t really feel it, his suit kept him quite warm.

He could see the three turrets standing sentinel over the base structure that was mostly buried into the mountain below. Since no one else had the firepower to deal with those turrets without taking a rocket to the face, Meyek had been tasked to go up himself and deal with it. Of course, that didn’t stop him from bitching the entire way. Actually, he’d been bitching about the cold ever since they’d gotten off the _Normandy_. He sighed as he linked his visor to the scope of his rifle, replacing his view with what could be seen through the rifle’s scope. He took aim, but held off on pulling the trigger. “Have I told you guys how much I really, _really_ hate this planet?” he asked over the squad comms. 

“Yes, at least fourteen times now,” grunted back Wrex, clearly not at all amused with his complaining. Pity Wrex didn’t know that he really didn’t mean very much by it, he was probably ready to blow his brains out with his shotgun, and that was something that Meyek really, _really_ didn’t want. Then again, what functioning person did, and he was barely considered sane himself. ‘Stable enough for the job, not stable enough to be a functioning member of Imperial society,’ or at least that’s what they’d said at the Schola when the Officio had come to take potential recruits away.

“What’s that phrase that you humans have?” asked Garrus, but from the way the Turian spoke, Meyek knew that he knew what the phrase was, he was just being an ass. “Quit your bitching? Well, I think it applies here.” Meyek ignored him as pulled the trigger once, sending a single .75 caliber Exitus round toward the first of the Alliance model Heavy Turrets set up by the Red Sand dealers. The kinetic barriers flashed into existence and then collapsed as they overloaded, unable to stop the high caliber high velocity round. Without missing a heartbeat, the Vindicare fired off another round aimed for the main servo control unit of the turret, which prevented it from firing or rotating.

Before the Red Sand dealers on the inside could even figure out what was going on, Meyek fired twice more at the other turret, and then twice again at the last. When he was done, there were three turrets, sparking and sputtering smoke as the servo motors tried to rotate and find a target, desperately. Even if they could work, Meyek’s suit rendered him invisible to the naked eye and to almost all forms of scanners. His rifle had a nitrogen cooling sheath surrounding the barrel, and a suppressor, meaning to the turret it may well have not existed for all intents and purposes.

“Turrets neutralized, you’re clear to move up,” said Meyek, still lying in the snow, waiting in case any of the idiots inside decided it was a good idea to come outside and see what happened rather than reinforce their current positions.

“Roger that,” said Garrus, and Meyek could hear sounds of the Turian moving before he cut the line. So far, it would seem that the idiots they were after weren’t stupid enough to walk outside their base. Oh well, that just meant that things were going to be a lot more entertaining. He watched as the armored forms of Garrus, Wrex and the void suit-esque suit worn by Tali passed by him. That was when he stood up, snow falling off his invisible form as if some kind of wraith rising up from the snow.

Tali snapped her shotgun up only for Garrus to jerk it away before she could put a dose of mass accelerated metal shavings into Meyek, point blank. “That has to be the worst reaction I’ve ever gotten from a girl,” joked Meyek, giving her a blank expression, seeing as with his mask on it was just about the only expression he was capable of giving her.

“Keelah, you scared me you stupid bosh’tet!” exclaimed Tali looking at him for a good long minute before she let out a breath and turned to Garrus, “Thanks, Garrus.”

“Come on you Pyjacks,” said Wrex as he advanced toward the door with his HMWSR shotgun in his hands. “We’ve got some idiots to kill.” Meyek smiled as he followed behind Wrex, his Exitus rifle cradled in his hands. Garrus let out the Turian equivalent of a sigh as he gestured for Tali to go ahead, and then took up a rear guard position, his HMWSR rifle held at the ready.

They made their way toward the front entrance together, Tali trudging and Wrex plowing his way through while he and Garrus did so with some more skill. Wrex tried the door and grunted in annoyance, “Locked.” A smile quickly appeared on his face, “I could always open it.”

He brought his hand up to unleash a destructive biotic power right before Garrus stopped him, “Maybe we should do something a little more subtle, don’t you think?” For a moment, Meyek was almost sure that Wrex was going to blast Garrus instead. Meyek was almost sure that only Shepard could control Wrex, and even then he wasn’t so sure.

Wrex growled at Garrus, staring at his faceplate for a moment before he wrenched his hand free from the Turian’s loose grip, “Fine. We’ll do things your way, Turian. If it doesn’t work and they shoot us anyway, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

“If we get shot, Wrex,” said Garrus patiently, seemingly completely unfazed. “I doubt you’ll be telling me anything, and I doubt I’ll be able to listen.” Meyek showed his agreement by shrugging and then tilting his head from one side to the other. Wrex just grunted again. Garrus nodded, “Now that that’s out of the way, Tali, if you could kindly open this door for us.”

Tali nodded and placed her shotgun on the back of her suit, where it folded up once more. That was something that Meyek really liked, but still would never give up his Exitus rifle for one of these mass effect weapons, a little too underpowered for his taste. He watched as Tali brought up her omnitool and began taping at its holographic interface before finally the door that lay before them opened, “There, that should do it.”

Garrus nodded, “Thanks, Tali.” He then gestured in through the open door, “After you, Wrex.” Meyek swore that he could see a smile form on Wrex’s alien features. The shotgun wielding reptilian alien stepped in through the door while Garrus and Tali followed behind. Meyek himself vanished into a faint shimmer as he joined his comrades in entering the base.

The first room was largely empty, some crates littered its interior, but a quick check revealed nothing to be concerned about. However, the next room was so rife with contacts that his spy mask recommended the use of explosives. That was however when a voice crackled to life over the bases’ PA system, “Well done, you’ve managed to find us.  Who’s paying you, the Alliance? You really think the three of you are going to actually be able to kill all of us? Your talents are wasted on the Alliance. Tell you what, since I like your tenacity, I’m going to offer you a job.”

Meyek had a feeling that this was the leader of this particular group, but the man had made two mistakes. One, he didn’t know just how many enemies he was facing off. Two, he’d let slip that he wasn’t entirely confident about his chances, hence his job offer. That was however when he heard Garrus’ voice over the vox, “I’m going to see if I can keep him talking, not as good at talking as you are, but I’m sure I’ll make do. Try and see if you can get into a better position.” Meyek smiled, he knew there was a reason that he liked Garrus.

“You got it,” he replied as he slung his rifle and drew his pistol, slowly making his way through the passageway that connected both rooms. Meyek’s thermals could make out several humans and a couple Krogan interspersed between them. Though he could clearly make out their leader in the rear of the room, and began making his way over as he heard Garrus answer the man from where he, Tali and Wrex were currently holding position.

“Actually, we’re not Alliance, we’re an independent party…newly starting out. Triple our pay you say? Hmm, that actually sounds pretty good,” replied Garrus, sounding awkward and slightly unsure of himself. Meyek smiled, Garrus was better at this than he thought, he always knew the Turian had it in him.

“Hmph, I have a feeling I know who paid you then…” muttered the man, but since he was speaking into the microphone connected to the PA system it was quite audible, but Meyek could see him at the central console that he, two mercenary snipers and a Krogan were standing at. Well, the others were really just standing around him. “Well, I’ll pay you triple of what that old bitch is paying...if you go and bring me her head.”

“Whoa now,” said Garrus trying to sound taken aback, and once more to Meyek’s slight amusement, doing a fairly good job of it. “We didn’t get hired by an old lady. We got this by secure line comms. Got transferred some  credits along with pictures of your base, and told we’d get paid the rest once you’re dead.” This was good, as it told the other man that the only thing they had loyalty to was credits.

Meyek was now standing right behind the man, well, an arm and an Exitus pistol’s length away. “Sorry, no deal,” he said from behind the man, still hidden from view. His spy mask informed him of the man’s elevated heart rate, he knew it was all over. He pulled the trigger once, sending a .75 caliber Exitus round right into the man’s head. Not even stopping to see what happened, he adjusted his aim and dropped the two sniper rifle wielding mercenaries on either side of him. That was when he saw the Krogan turn and point his shotgun in his general direction, not that he could see him per se. Meyek however knew that his chances of being hit with a shotgun were still high if he stood there and so he dived forward, rolling away from the Krogan as soon as he hit the ground.

He could feel the heat of the shot, and the sudden increase in temperature told him that the Krogan was using incendiary rounds. “Ooh, hot, hot, hot!” he exclaimed as he stepped next to one of the stacks of cargo crates that were scattered all around the room. The sounds of gunfire could be heard as no doubt Garrus, Wrex and Tali pushed into the room. He tried to poke his head around the crate but was forced to jerk it back behind the crate as a shotgun blast smacked into where it was a moment ago. “Come on, can’t we talk this out?” he asked, hoping the Krogan would stop firing for a moment so he could put a bullet into his head. Almost as if to answer his question, another shotgun blast thudded into the crate he was leaning on. “Guess not,” he muttered as he picked a blind grenade off of his belt.

However, that was when he heard a grunt and the body of the Krogan in question smacked into the wall he was facing, right before the body was peppered with shotgun blasts. Before he could say anything, Wrex stepped into his peripheral vision and put another one into the aforementioned dead Krogan before turning and looking at him, “Heh, too slow, Meyek.”

Meyek frowned at the massive Krogan despite the fact that he couldn’t see it, “Hey, I don’t have fancy biotic powers. No fair.” He took a step toward where Wrex was standing casually, clearly Garrus and Tali had what remained under control.

“No, but you and your friend move faster than any other humans I’ve seen,” said Wrex. “And you’ve got gear I’ve never seen in all of my life, and I’ve been around a long time and seen a lot. From what I’ve seen of the others in your Imperium, even they don’t have tech like what the two of you’ve got. So…I’d say the odds are evened.” Wrex  frowned as he looked down at the casings left behind on the ground, Meyek knew what he was surprised about. Once the rounds were fired, both the remained of the rounds and the casings began to dissolve. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand the two of you, Meyek…” added Wrex, shaking his head.

“Eh, we’ve got plenty of time, seeing as I think we’re done here…” said Meyek as his spy mask used the bases’ communications array to reach one of the comm buoys in orbit. When the all familiar glyph that signified that a secure connection had been established was displayed, he spoke, “Shepard, Meyek here. Outpost is clear.” 

**Commander Riley Shepard**

Riley and Williams were lying prone at the edge of a hill that overlooked the camp below, seeing as it served as an excellent vantage point and they couldn’t get a decent angle with the Mako’s main gun without attracting too much attention, especially with those Merc snipers packing some pretty deadly firepower. Unfortunately for them, Riley’s rifle was also very dangerous seeing as it was equipped with a frictionless barrel fitted with an accelerator rail extension, “Roger that, Meyek,” said Riley as she sighted down her HMWSR sniper rifle, looking at the camp ahead of them. “We’ll pick you guys up when we’re done here.”

“Don’t worry, we brought snacks,” came Meyek’s reply. His implication being that they were going to take their time executing their objective. “I won’t share with Tali or Garrus, I know better than to do that. You have fun now, Shepard.” With that, the line went dead and Riley rolled her eyebrows.

“Williams, you ready?” she asked as she centered her crosshairs over the head of one of the mercenary snipers in their sniper posts while Williams had the other in her sights, or in the very least that was the plan. Kaidan and Dr. T’Soni were standing by beside the Mako.

“Yes ma’am,” said Williams as she sat behind her rifle, which was the same model as hers but of course lacked the modifications. It was however like Riley’s, it was firing anti-personnel ‘Shredder’ rounds.

“Good, fire on my mark,” said Shepard as she took a breath in preparation for letting loose a single round. Once she was satisfied that the round was without a doubt going to punch right through the mercenary sniper’s head, she gave the signal to Williams, “Mark.” The both of them fired, and Riley watched as the round tore through the head of the sniper she targeted, then panning over she saw the other sniper was dead as well. “Alright, let’s pick ‘em off,” she said, turning her rifle on the nearest merc who was looking for where the two marksman that picked off his comrades were.

“Alenko, take Dr. T’Soni in the Mako and head them off the other way, Williams and I will make our way down once we’re done here,” said Riley as she put a round through the merc’s head. Another merc dropped as Williams did the same.

“On it, Commander,” said Alenko, and a moment later she heard the sound of the Mako’s engine revving and then watched it leave her peripheral vision. She and Williams opened fire once more taking another two mercs before the remaining four managed to find out just where they were, assault rifle fire raking the position just below them, a couple smacking into her barrier which flared to life to stop the rounds.

“Williams,” she started as she rolled away from the edge, “Can you get a shot on any of them?” Riley asked as she prepared to activate her optical camouflage, the other hand holding onto her HMWP. She  had a plan that was potentially somewhat crazy, not life threatening, but certainly not conventional. Then again, she did have her moments when it came to unconventional.

“Wish I could, ma’am,” replied Williams, away from the edge of the hill not too far away from her. “Don’t have a plan or something, do you?” Riley could hear the apprehension in her voice. The smart thing to do was to wait for the Mako to come around and put some fire into the remaining mercs, but Williams right had some doubts that such a thing was not going to happen.

“You could say that,” said Riley as she glanced at what little of the slope to her left that she could see, wondering how she was going to make her way down without breaking her neck. “On my mark, send suppressing fire their way. Doesn’t have to be close, just keep their attention for as long as you can.”

“You got it, ma’am,” said Williams, if she had any reservations about the plan, she certainly didn’t show it. She watched as Williams traded out her HMWSR sniper rifle for her HMWA assault rifle.

Riley took another breath to steady herself before speaking into her helmet’s mic, “Mark!” No sooner than she had spoken did she activate her optical camouflage and she was on her feet, moving down the hill with his HMWP pistol in her right hand. She watched as Williams’ suppressing fire impacted the Grizzly IFV that the Mercs were using as cover, naturally even an assault rifle as powerful as Williams’ couldn’t do much other than scratch the paint on the Grizzly.

She was almost to the bottom when she realized that she was out of stable ground, and judging the distance between her and the ground ahead as well as assuming that the snow would break her fall, she leapt forward. Though she was expecting a rougher landing, the snow did indeed cushion her fall, but it also made her fairly visible.

A burst of fire sent her way knocked her down onto her back and also disabled her optical camouflage. “Great,” sighed Riley as she tossed a high explosive grenade over the top of the Grizzly, and just about when she estimated it was about half a foot below neck level she sent the manual detonation signal.

The explosion silenced all gunfire and she heard the sound of the Mako’s engine approaching closer and closer before it came into visual range, stopping a few feet short of her.  The hatch opened and both Alenko and Dr. T’Soni came storming down the ramp and over to her. “Commander, are you alright?”

“I think Meyek’s brand of crazy is rubbing off on you, Commander,” said Williams as she walked up behind her, HMWR cradled in her hands. Riley heard a low groan, and then the sound of Williams rifle discharging, “You also missed one, ma’am.” The ‘ma’am’ was added as if almost an afterthought, which was quite unlike Williams.

“Well, as long as no one else has any crazy ideas, I think we’ll be fine,” said Riley as she stood to her feet, her pistol held in her right hand. “Let’s get this over with, people.” With that, Riley began walking toward the entrance to the building.

Williams nodded and followed behind her, followed next by Alenko and finally Dr. T’Soni after she was able to look away from the bodies of all the mercenaries and follow them to the entrance. The four of them advanced up the ramp that led to the entrance to the mercenaries base which was cut into the mountain. “What’s the chance they left the entrance unlocked? Surely that will not be the case,” said Dr. T’Soni as she looked at the circular entrance hatch.

“You’d be surprised, Dr. T’Soni,” said Riley as she touched the haptic holographic interface and the door slid apart, allowing them access. “Mercs weren’t expecting us to take them out so quickly.”

“Their mistake,” said Alenko as a biotic barrier flared to life around him. Riley smiled as well and motioned for Williams to take point. Nodding, Williams moved up with  Riley and Alenko moving up behind her and Dr. T’Soni bringing up the rear. The four of them moved down the downward sloping tunnel toward what was another access hatch.

Riley took up position next to the controls for the door while Ashley and Kaidan took up position on either side of the door, and Dr. T’Soni took up position behind her. Riley turned to her and said, “Dr. T’Soni, stick close. It’s going to get hot in there quick. Those mercs are going to be shooting to kill.”

“Please, Commander, you’ve saved my life once. I think we’ve moved past formalities,” said Dr. T’Soni, still hugging the wall as she waited for Riley to open the door.

“Alright…Liara,” said Riley before looking over at Alenko and Williams before slamming her fist against the door.  A biotic barrier flared to life around Liara as Williams and Alenko pushed forward, taking cover behind a pair of white crates right as rounds pinged off of them. “Covering fire!” yelled Riley over their shared comms and once she heard the sound of Williams’ assault rifle she turned to Liara and nodded for her to move up.

Instead of moving up and joining the three, Riley moved over to the left and took cover behind some crates that were behind the ones the rest of her team were taking cover behind. She dropped to a crouch with a muffled splash of wet mud and water as she drew her rifle. “Alenko, see if you can lift one of the bastards for me,” said Riley over the comms. “Liara, if you could do the same, that’d be extremely helpful.”

Riley got affirmative responses from both of them and as soon as she hear the surprised cries of the two mercenaries she popped out of cover and let out two quick shots before her rifle overheated. Both shots however, punched right through the heads of the two mercs. This had created enough of a lull in their return fire and Riley was quick to take advantage of this, “Alenko, Williams, push up!”

Both Alliance Marines did as they were told, with Williams spraying suppressive fire from her rifle as Alenko pushed up ahead, hitting one of the mercs with a stasis attack and then a throw that smacked him into the wall behind him with a sickening _crack_. For good measure, Alenko put a trio of rounds into his torso.

Williams stopped firing and began to move up as well, and when another merc tried to pop up and fire, Liara lifted him into the air using her biotics while Riley put a single round into his head. Riley then pushed up and took cover behind the two crates beside Liara. However, the mercs fire at that point stopped completely, and Riley looked around as she tried to see what it was they were up to.

That was however when they heard the voice of someone, presumably one of the mercs, “You Alliance types really think you can just come around and shoot up whatever you want? I’ll make sure you all regret ever coming here!” Riley wasn’t going to waste her time listening to this idiot ramble on, he knew he was beaten and was desperately trying to buy himself time, wouldn’t do him any good. Riley motioned silently for Williams and Alenko to move up, and the two began pushing up toward the leader of this group, slowly.

However, he probably rightly assumed that his gambit hadn’t paid off and he stood up, enough time for Shepard to put a single round into him, dropping his kinetic barriers and staggering him. Williams and Alenko opened up with a barrage from their assault rifle and pistol respectively, the whine of both weapons quite audible even over the sounds of the rounds punching through the man’s armor. He dropped, falling backward into one of the many crates that littered the room with a dull _thud._

Riley let out a sigh and then got on the comm to the Normandy, “Joker, we’re done here. Be ready to come pick us up.”

**Lord Admiral Parrington**

Casbin, it was a beautiful world in all rights. It was worlds like this that they brought back into the fold of the Imperium during the Great Crusade. A ‘Sanctuary World’ according to the Citadel Council, with potential offenders either being fined or imprisoned. While it was a pity that they had to do what they were about to do, Thalia and Bertie saw it as a far better alternative to potentially losing more men in a ground engagement with the Geth. Captain Mojaro walked over to her, her datapad held close, “Ma’am, we’ve intercepted the outgoing communications. However, it will take us some time to decrypt them.”

“Very good, Captain. However, all we need is to be able to tell where the communication was bound for,” said Thalia. However, she knew thanks to the way long range communications worked in this galaxy, the Geth probably simply used the preexisting communication buoys, though since their communications were indeed heavily encrypted.

“Aye, ma’am. The crew’s working on it,” said Captain Mojaro, nodding once before quickly adding, “And Major Thule is here, ma’am, just like you asked.” She nodded subtly in the direction of the entrance to the bridge where the Saturnyne Rams Veletaris Major was standing, his helmet cradled in his hands.

“Ah, Major, thought that you’d want to be up here for this,” said Thalia as she turned to face the man, projecting her voice over the other sounds of the bridge so that he could hear her. “Come on over, the Marshall will be just a moment.” Thule nodded and as he came to a stop he snapped off a smart salute, which she immediately returned. Thalia returned her gaze down to the planet below, and once she’d noticed that he’d followed her gaze she added, “You were with us when we set off from Saturn, Major, we’ve been through a lot together. I think it’s only fitting you were up here now.”

“Honestly, ma’am, I think we could take ‘em. You’re right though, I’m getting to be an overconfident old man. Better to play it safe and let the lance batteries do the talking,” he said, letting out a short chuckle. The look on his face however told Thalia all she needed to know. He was more than glad to be invited to be on the bridge, the best seats in the house, when it happened. “Good thing our bomber managed to catch that signal from the second outpost, else I think we’d still be searching around planet side for the precise location.”

Before Thalia could respond, she heard the sound of Bertie’s voice coming from the entrance to the bridge, “I dearly hope that you haven’t started without us, dear.” Smiling, she turned around and saw that Bertie was accompanied by Tribune Vaarsuvius Theriault. She’d gotten to know Bertie’s second in command quite well after all these years, and she quite appreciated the man for grounding Bertie in reality on many an occasion.

She could see Vaarsuvius holding a tray with four crystal scotch glasses on it, behind them a matching crystal scotch decanter. She gave her husband a quizzical look before then giving Vaarsuvius a polite smile and acknowledging nod. “Bertie, is there a reason you’re making poor Vaarsuvius carry the tray and not even helping him?”

Bertie frowned in thought for a second as the two of them stopped just short of her, likely thinking of how to explain it when Vaarsuvius came to his aid, “It’s alright ma’am, we’re both aware of Lord Marshall Lissie’s clumsy side, I thought it better that he shouldn’t have to explain why he came empty handed.”

Bertie smiled sheepishly at her before turning to Vaarsuvius, “Vaarsuvius my fellow, what on Terra would I have done without you?”

“Probably dropped this tray and lost the last bottle of Terran Scotch we had on this ship, sir,” said Vaarsuvius, a smile forming on his features.

Bertie nodded, then turning his attention to the decanter and glasses, “Quite possible indeed, my good fellow.” Gently removing the stopper and pouring out about two fingers of the Scotch into the glasses. Placing the decanter back down, he handed out the glasses, passing the first one to Thalia, then Valerian, holding one for Vaarsuvius as he put the tray down atop one of the consoles, much to Tech Priest Severin’s noted displeasure.

“A toast,” said Thalia as she smiled and raised her glass up. “To a new future, to new allies, to the swift destruction of our enemies, to the continued survival of mankind wherever we may be now. To man.”

“To man,” repeated the others present repeated, as they all drank and then turned to watch the dazzling fireworks display happening. Dorsal Godsbane Lance Batteries fired down at the coordinates of the Geth encampment, angry red beams of energy lighting up the dark void of space around it. This was the beginning of a conflict that the Geth couldn’t hope to win, and if Thalia had a say in it, they wouldn’t.

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maximov**

It was a mundane job, considering none of them had to even draw their weapons once, even though he was strongly considering drawing and shooting that Helena Blake women, especially given how she confident and smug she was and how many times she’d thrown around very thinly veiled threats. However, this was Shepard’s show, and Meyek knew that it wasn’t his decision to make, it was Shepard’s. In the end however, he believed that she’d made the right decision. That didn’t however stop him from vocalizing his discomfort as he followed Garrus out of the Mako, “I still can’t believe we let her walk away.”

“She wasn’t a threat anymore, Meyek, no point in wasting the ammunition on her,” said Shepard as she walked away from the Mako. “Besides, then we’d have to fight through all of the mercs, and as much as I know you would have enjoyed that, I think I’ve been shot at enough for one day.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Shepard,” said Meyek, a smile forming on his face as he flicked his spy mask. “I only need one shot to take her out.” He paused for a moment before adding, “Now all those mercs are a different matter. Still only one for each of them, but I guess you have a point. Exitus rounds don’t grow on trees.”

“Really?” asked Garrus with faux shock. “With how trigger happy you are, you’d have had me fooled.” For as much as Garrus had a stick up his ass, Meyek liked him not only because of how they had more than a few common conversation topics, but also because Garrus was one of the few crew members who could keep up with him when it came to banter.

Before he could say anything however, Ray walked over and stopped all three of them as Wrex stepped out from the Mako, “Pardon me for interrupting this little party, but I’ve just got word from the Lord Admiral. Something’s come up that needs our attention. They want to meet in the Solcrum system.”

Shepard frowned as stopped, running a hand through her red hair, “Did the Lord Admiral say what it was that needed our attention?”

“Nothing she’d say over a comms frequency, but based on her tone and the look on her face, I’d say it was pretty damned important,” replied Ray as he bit down slightly harder on the Lho-stick, if Meyek had to guess this was either _really_ sensitive or _really_ bad. If they were really unlucky it was both.

Shepard nodded, “I’ll tell Joker to plot a course.” Ray nodded and Shepard walked off toward the upper deck leaving Ray, Wrex, Garrus and himself in the cargo bay.

“So, never a dull moment on this ship,” observed Wrex before scoffing and walking away toward his spot. “I think I actually like it here.”


	5. Favors and Frightening Revelations

**Lord Admiral Thalia Parrington**

“Dropping out of the warp, ma’am,” called Captain Mojaro, the bridge bathed in the red lighting of a full-ship alert.

Thalia glanced up and out of the bridge view port at the system that lay ahead of them as the ship glided into real space. She drew her gaze away from the main view port, back to the auger array reading on her console; six Geth Cruisers and a Geth Dreadnought. The Geth were building up for an attack for sure, and part of her was thankful that the Alliance didn’t have to waste any lives on countering this threat.

“Bring the ship up to full combat alert!” ordered Thalia. “Give me a firing solution on those ships.”

An affirmative response crackled in her ear.

According to the tactical display though, the Geth were responding to their arrival just as efficiently as they were responding to their presence. Geth fighters were being launched and the Geth fleet were most certainly charging their weapons. Damnable abominable intelligences were networked, as far as she could understand, and she supposed that was the reason behind the Geth’s coordination skills.

The damnable mass accelerator weapons of the Geth and the other races were faster to charge, and in the next minute a hail of mass accelerator rounds—a hail in excess of a hundred megatons of kinetic force—thundered into the void shields that protected the Lord Admiral’s ship.  However, despite the commendable effort of the Geth and their weapons, the void shields on the _Fist of Judgement_ were rated to stop barrages in the high terraton range.

“Void shields holding steady, Lord Admiral, enemy barrage completely ineffectual,”  Tech-Priest Severin reported.

Thalia couldn’t help but smile in response. ‘My turn, xenos,’ she thought as she waited for word from the Master Gunner that the weapons were charged.

“Lance batteries charged, Lord Admiral,” the Master Gunner said. Thalia looked at the firing solution, and it focused on taking out the smaller Geth cruisers first, there were three guns per battery, which meant that it was a shot per cruiser and three more shots in reserve to account for any changes in projections.

“Fire, Master Gunner, send them to hell,” she said, watching on the tactical display as her orders were carried out. Six beams bisected four cruisers and glanced two, who barely managed to move out of the way as they detected the weapons batteries turning to track them. The view port magnified the view of the two glanced Geth cruisers. They were listing, debris floating free from the glowing breaches in their hulls. Barely a heartbeat later, two more angry red lance beams gutted the Geth ships from bow to stern.

All that remained of the Geth Cruisers were shattered and broken hulls, spewing debris as they disintegrated further, and the fighters that were now making straight for them. Anyone with an understanding of Naval tactics knew what they were doing—quite simply they were attempting to buy time for their dreadnought to escape.

“Helm, come about, new heading,” she said, re-orienting the representation of the ship on her screen so that the cogitator could compute the new heading. It could calculate the information faster than she ever could, and so even though she was quite abreast of how it worked as all naval officers were, she preferred to allow the cogitator to do so. “Master Gunner, broadside batteries, give our friend a parting gift.”

Both the helmsman and the Master Gunner gave her an affirmative response, and she could feel the deck plate vibrate beneath her with a gentle _hum_ as the ship’s augmented retro thrusters and augmented engine baffle system working to turn the massive battleship. “Plasma batteries primed, and laser capacitors charged, Lord Admiral,” reported the Master Gunner.

“Let’s finish this,” said Thalia, taking a moment to regard the Geth Dreadnought a final time in the view port before turning back to her tactical display. The Geth fighters were fast, but they weren’t going to be able cross the distance between the dreadnought and _The Fist of Judgement_ before they were able to fire. The Sunsear Las-Broadside punched a new constellation in the side of the dreadnought, and it was finished.

 Admiral Parrington intended to leave nothing of the foul thing, and so the Hecutor-pattern Plasma Broadside right of the laser-based battery fired, sending brilliant blue bolts of plasma spiraling toward the remains of the Geth Dreadnought, where the detonated against the hull and flash vaporized what was left of it. Now little more than scrap metal floating in space, Admiral Parrington surmised that the Geth fighters would shut down, as did the rest of the crew.

Only that was apparently not the case. The Geth fighters continued, undeterred by the fact that the Dreadnought and Cruisers had been destroyed. “Lord Admiral, the Geth fighters are on an intercept vector. Point defense targeting cogitators are targeting them, however they were never designed for ships this small, fast and agile. It will take some time to calibrate them,” informed Tech-Priest Severin.

Thalia let out a sigh. She had hoped to do this without risking her pilots, but she trusted them enough to handle this and come back home in one piece. Transferring flight control vox privileges to her station, she cleared her throat and then clicked on her mic, “This is Lord Admiral Parrington to _Venator_ and _Raptor_ squadrons, I need you to deploy and engage incoming Geth fighters. I don’t want any heroes.  Come home in one piece. Lord Admiral Parrington, out.”

Once the Geth fighters were in point defense range, she watched as long barreled las-talons and quad heavy lascannon turrets fired at the incoming fighters, but as she’d been informed, while a few stray shots glanced a few of the fighters, the Geth were largely in one piece. The Geth were remarkably intelligent, and they showed it by shooting at the point defense turrets first.

As one Geth fighter flew past the bridge, blast doors began to slide up over the view ports to keep it safe from a potential suicide attack. Not a moment too soon either, as the bridge shook from a sudden impact. “That was cutting it a little _too_ close,” said Thalia, sharing a look of relief with Captain Mojaro, who was holding onto her own station for support.

“On that we can agree, ma’am,” said the Captain.

The bridge crew were all concerned now. If the Geth were taking to suicide attacks, then they could actually end up doing some pretty serious damage. The _Fist of Judgment_ was a well defended ship, but death by a thousand cuts was still possible, even for a vessel such as this. The tactical map showed the Geth fighters swarming around them like insects, very appropriate given their design, and things were starting to look not quite as sure as they had about five minutes ago.

Then their Saturnyne-pattern Fury Interceptors advanced, appearing on the tactical map in hololithic form as they streaked out of the hangar bay on the starboard side.

“ _Venator_ lead here, Lord Admiral, we’ll get your bug problem sorted out in no time, ma’am.”

External vid-relays showed a Fury put a quartet of lascannon shots into a Geth fighter it was hot on the tail of before the latter exploded in a dazzling display of ignited fuel and debris.

There was a cheer from the bridge as the fighters flew past the external vid-relays, chasing and annihilating Geth fighters. Then, Tech-Priest Severin delivered what was quite possibly the best news she’d heard all day, “Targeting cogitators recalibrated, Lord Admiral. The targeting data from our fighters greatly reduced calibration time.”

Thalia nodded, “Thank you, Severin.” She then turned toward the Master Gunner and said, “Well, Master Gunner, what are we waiting for?”

In all her time on this ship, Thalia had almost never seen the man smile, but right now she could have sworn that she did.

“To give our pilots a chance to accrue kills, Lord Admiral.”

Through the external vid-relays she could see las-talon and quad heavy lascannons pick Geth fighters out of the void with ease, and between their Fury Interceptors and the point defense guns, the Geth fighters were reduced to nothing more than floating chunks of debris.

Everyone on the bridge glanced at the tactical display, glad that the momentary threat that the Geth fighters had presented was now dealt with. Even if at their worst it was damage that could be repaired, the lack of shipyard here and their supply of spares severely limited, they couldn’t afford to have the ship damaged.

“Helm, put us into geosynchronous orbit with Solcrum. Flight control, recall our fighters and tell them to prepare for escort operations and patrol. Captain Mojaro, tell the crew to prepare for a planetary invasion, and tell my husband I’ll see him off in the deployment bay.”

With that, the Lord Admiral moved from her command throne and began walking to the blast doors at the entrance to the bridge, her protective detail moving with her. 

**Lord Marshall Bertie Lissie**

Bertie was no stranger to death, but what had happened here was beyond his understanding. He wouldn’t be surprised if indeed some operative of the traitor Warmaster had managed to stow away aboard the flagship, given the carnage, despite how impossible that might’ve been.

Even so, it would not have explained how what he was looking at was even possible.

This had all started when several of their voidsmen had gone missing. Such a thing was very unusual, because crewmen didn’t just go missing, and when they did their remains were usually not found splattered across an entire spare parts storage area.

“I sent in two teams after whatever’s there, they barely even managed to make it…whatever’s down there…bleed,” said Lieutenant Dardashti, expression tight as he looked over the footage of what had been captured on the vid feeds, before they were destroyed in the wake of the slaughter. “Thing’s smart too, took the vid-relays out, but it’s too damned fast to be human. Nothing can move that quickly…not even an Astartes, which whatever that thing is sure as hell wasn’t big enough to be.”

“I suppose then being surprised that whatever _it is_ wiped out the Ogryn is perhaps…a tad silly,” said Bertie, before sighing slightly. The Ogryn Charonites had been sent in afterward as an emergency response with the intention of in the very least wounding this thing. Unfortunately, in line with possibility and against all hopes, the Ogryn were dead the moment they entered the quarantined section. The blast doors were keeping _the thing_ down there, but they all knew it was only a matter of time before it found its way into the rest of the ship.

He turned and looked at Thalia, who had been silent this entire time. She was massaging her temples, no doubt trying to get the strain out, so she could think of something.

“Do we not even have a glimpse of what this thing is?” she asked, turning to Severus. The Tech-Priest nodded and stepped back through the vid till it settled on a frame during its engagement with Lieutenant Dardashti’s men.

The frame where it was paused was incredibly blurry, seeing as the vid feed could barely keep up with whatever it was they were fighting. In one hand it wielded a massive power sword, that much, unfortunately, was clear, given the sort of distortion that came with capturing a power weapon in vid or pict. What was most horrifying, though, was not the sword.  It was the leering skull it had for a face and what appeared to be knife-long claws on its left hand.

“What in the rings of Saturn is that thing?” breathed Lieutenant Dardashti.

Thalia frowned at the image.  Honestly, it sent more than one shiver down her spine and took quite a measure of resolve for her to not react outwardly. She craned her head slightly to get a better look at what served as this thing’s face. “I don’t know, Lieutenant, but I believe we may know someone who does. I’ll be on the bridge.”s

  **Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov**

“Dropping out of FTL now, Shepard,” said Joker. He added under his breath, but not low enough that the Vindicare some feet behind his pilot’s chair couldn’t hear him, “Going to be next to impossible to miss a ship like that.”

Meyek couldn’t help but smile, even through the _Normandy_ ’s canopy, it was easy to identify the massive flagship of the 21st Expeditionary Fleet. Though, Meyek knew that whatever it was that had prompted Lord Admiral Parrington to recall them back to the ship with such urgency couldn’t be very good for any of them at all.

Meyek had enough information crammed into his head during training to know that the _Fist of Judgment_ was maintaining geosynchronous orbit around the moon of Solcrum. Debris from a recent battle was picked up by the _Normandy_ ’s sensors, chunks of what had presumably once been part of a ship were floating ‘near’ the ship.

“Looks like they’ve been busy,” said Joker, as he looked at the scanner.

“Geth ships,” said Shepard, nodding as she glanced at the ships on the display. “Looks like they were getting ready for an attack against the Alliance.” She turned toward the two combat-kitted Assassins. “You two didn’t know anything about this, did you?” Her tone lacked hostility, and her question seemed to come out of simple curiosity rather than anything else. It might’ve been a probe, Meyek considered, to know if they were able to communicate with the Imperium without letting on.

“We barely know about the Geth, let alone have intelligence about their positions, Shepard,” he said, nodding at the debris field of Geth ships. “I don’t think the Lord Admiral decided to take her ship on a joyride to look for trouble. More likely, I think your commanding officers decided to ask for a little bit of help.”

He turned his head slightly to see if Meghann agreed, and she gave a short nod of confirmation. Turning back, he looked at Shepard to see her reaction. Shepard nodded, clearly placing a measure of credence in his theory.

“Hackett probably didn’t want to pull you off the hunt for Saren,” reasoned Navigator Presley who was attending to one of the stations to Meyek’s left and looking quite uncomfortable about having to stand so close to him. “In any case, I suppose we have to thank him for that. Six Geth Cruisers and a Geth Dreadnought are a little above this ship’s capabilities.”

Meyek hadn’t actually seen the _Normandy_ in a combat situation, but he was going to agree with what was one of the ship’s higher ranked naval officers.

A thought instantly struck him, and he realized that with all their sense of urgency they hadn’t realized that Dr. T’Soni hadn’t seen this ship earlier, and Meyek was now concerned about what she would do if she did. “Uh…there’s something we forgot to think about,” he let out awkwardly. All eyes immediately fell on him. “Did we all forget that Dr. T’Soni hasn’t seen this ship before, or that Shepard can’t use her super-secret special agent status to make this a ‘don’t talk about this to anyone’ thing?”

“How about we use the ‘we saved your life so shut up’ thing instead?” offered Meghann, poking fun at him by using his own words. Meyek knew that she was dead serious, however. Meghann turned and looked at the others on the bridge, “It’s not an ideal solution, but what choice do we really have in this case? We can’t really allow the complications of the ‘Council’ learning of our existence, not at this time. Your own commanding officers said so.”

Shepard nodded, but before she could say anything they were hailed by the _Fist of Judgment_ , Joker’s piloting having speedily brought them close enough to the ship to receive landing instructions.

“SSV _Normandy_ , this is Flight Control on the _Fist of Judgment_ , port hangar is ready to receive you. Over,” came the voice of one of the bridge crew on the _Fist of Judgment._  

“Understood, adjusting heading,” said Joker, adding almost immediately after, “Is the starboard hangar experiencing rush hour?” Joker at this point, became distinctly aware of the fact that there were several pairs of eyes staring directly at him. He turned his head slightly, toward Shepard who was giving him a quizzical look, her silence saying exactly what she thought about his remark. “What? I’m sure it was the most entertaining comment that he got all day.”

Thankfully for Joker, the comms channel was no longer open.

“Just…never mind,” sighed Shepard. “Get us on board, and try not to piss off anyone else while you’re at it, would you?” She then turned toward the others present and said, “I’m going to talk to Liara about what we discussed.”

Meyek watched as Shepard left the bridge, and then turned back to the ship. A pair of Saturnyne-pattern Fury Interceptors were moving off aft of the ships’ bow, keeping pace and formation with them as they made for the hangar. Meyek found it easy to distinguish the Saturnyne pattern thanks to its larger trapezoidal wings, and bulkier midsection that tapered toward the front.

“SSV _Normandy_ , this is _Void Eagle_ lead, we’ll provide escort back to the _Fist of Judgment_ , we ran into Geth fighters earlier, can never be too sure with these damned things,” came the voice of the lead Fury’s pilot.

“Roger that, _Void Eagle_ lead, we appreciate it,” said Joker, closing the line before adding, “What the hell kinda callsign is ‘Void Eagle’ anyway?” asked Joker, to no one in particular in any case. Meyek liked Joker, he was a funny guy, and they shared the same kind of sense of humor. Sometimes though, he said the stupidest things.

“I mean, that’s something a civilization that’s been out in space longer would understand,” teased Meyek, getting a frown from Joker. “Oh, come on, it’s easy! Eagles are birds of prey, and adding void before that means they’re predatory birds of the void…you get it, right?  Do I need to fetch Garrus to explain it to you?”

“I get it,” argued Joker, “I still say it _sounds_ stupid. Callsigns should sound _cool_ , strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, and inspire your allies.”

 The silence that his rambling had brought on was palpable, and Joker finally yielded as the cavernous hangar ahead came into view. Saturnyne-pattern Stormbirds could be seen off to their aft, being launched out of the ship through honeycombed launch rails on the side of the ship that had been dedicated to the massive complex that was the port hangar bay.

The rest of the trip was carried out in silence, as the _Normandy_ followed the landing telemetry relayed to it via the ship’s automated landing cogitators and flight control servitors. While orders were relayed by an officer in charge of flight control or the ship’s commanding officer themselves, landing and takeoff itself was a complicated process that was handled by a landing cogitator and a flight control servitor that talked the pilot through the process.

The _Normandy’_ s bow broke through the atmospheric containment field, and Joker expertly guided the one hundred fifty-five-meter warship like it was just an overly large fighter. Meyek had trained to fly system defense gunboats with a rudimentary level of competency, and he _knew_ how hard it was to accomplish what Joker was seemingly effortlessly pulling off.

As the _Normandy_ glided inside, Shepard returned to the bridge. “Talked to Liara, she’s agreed to keep quiet about anything she sees. Surprisingly easy,” said Shepard.

“People just tend to agree with you, Shepard,” said Meyek, looking over at the woman with a sense of confused respect. He couldn’t for the life of him understand just _how_ Shepard did it.

“Wish you were there at the council meeting, Meyek, you wouldn’t have thought that then,” said Shepard, scoffing at his compliment. She then looked straight at him and then added, “But thanks.”

“I tend to shoot people I don’t agree with, so probably not, Shepard,” said Meyek, shrugging. “Anytime though, feeling down and need a cheesy compliment, I’m your Vindicare.”

“Touching down, Shepard,” interrupted Joker, thankfully before the conversation could take a turn toward the truly awkward. “Good luck down there, y’know, whatever it is they want you to do. Hopefully it’s not window cleaning, this tub probably has a lot of those.”

“Viewports,” corrected Meghann, giving Joker an apprehensive look, clearly confused as to why a navy helmsman like him would call a viewport a window.

A smile appeared on both Shepard and Meyek’s faces, and Meyek’s enhanced hearing picked up a barely uttered, ‘Whatever’ from Joker. Meghann almost certainly heard it, too, but said nothing.

“Come on, let’s get this over with,” said Shepard as she walked off of the bridge. Meyek flicked his mask back down and he followed behind Shepard, as did Meghann after she slipped her mask back on.  As they walked into the cargo bay, he could see Ray checking and re-checking his bolt pistol, looking concerned as ever.

“What’s the matter Ray, did one of your rats get loose?” Meyek asked, looking at the Vanus with some degree of concern. He hadn’t seen Ray this concerned…well, ever. He hadn’t known Ray very long, but as long as he had, Ray had always been a paragon of calm and collected, even cold calculative behavior. None of them were ‘emotional’ in that manner, even if he came across that way to many people. Ray was even more deliberate in every action than either of them.

“Not in the mood,” he said at last, holstering the bolt pistol and pulling the brown cloak that he always wore over the weapon. He let out a sigh, “Just…I’m not big on dealing with whatever we’ve been called back for, especially if it can’t be said over even a secured line.”

Meyek nodded, the possibility that they were being called back to deal with one of the Warmaster’s agents was quite high.

Shepard looked concerned now, but she said nothing, instead nodding as well before she turned toward the slowly lowering ramp. The three assassins followed behind her, down to where the Lord Marshall and Lord Admiral, and both of their respective protective details, were waiting for them. Given the stance of each of the Veletaris present, Meyek had a strong feeling that the reason for their vigilance was the same as his reason for being there.

“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” said Lord Admiral Parrington, smiling politely if unnecessarily. “As I mentioned to Operative Arold, the matter was too sensitive to speak of over even an encrypted communications channel.” She took a breath before she spoke again, “Unfortunately, time is of the essence and I’m going to be quick. A team of voidsmen went missing near a maintenance store close to the drop pod deployment deck. We sent in Ogryn Charonite units and two units of armsmen, and none of them have returned.” She held out a dataslate, “The footage captured before the vid-relays were disabled. I suggest you _all_ take a look at it.”

Ray was the first to step forward, a look of concern and suspicion forming across his features as he took the dataslate from Lord Admiral Parrington. Ray frowned at the footage at first, but then his eyes widened and his grip on the dataslate weakened, almost to the point of dropping it.

“How the hell did one of them get aboard…” breathed Ray, and even though Meyek wasn’t quite sure what it was he was talking about, he had a feeling Ray already knew the answer to the that question. He immediately returned his gaze to both the Lord Admiral and Lord Marshall, “Please tell me you sealed that section off.”

“I think we both know that whatever’s down there isn’t going to be stopped by a few bulkheads for long,” said Bertie, “Which begs the next question—what exactly _is_ that monstrosity, Operative Arold?”

Ray ignored him and turned back to Meyek, “Get Shepard back on the ship, now!” Meyek was suddenly filled with concern as well, what was it that Ray had seen that prompted that sort of a reaction? One of the Warmaster’s infiltrators, perhaps? A traitor Astartes squad?

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on,” said Shepard, putting her hand out in front of him, and stopping him from taking another step. He could quite easily incapacitate Shepard and take her back aboard the ship, but he wasn’t going to if he didn’t have to.

Ray turned the dataslate so that he, Meghann and Shepard could see it. “See for yourselves,” he said, and played the footage. Each Clade was familiar with the wargear that the other Clades used, that’s how he’d recognized Meghann as a Callidus when he saw her, and so when he saw the footage Meyek’s heart almost stopped. Each Clade had its specializations, and the wargear of the blur on the screen clearly belonged to one Clade; Clade Eversor.

“For what fugging reason didn’t you tell us about a fugging time bomb on the ship, Ray?” accused Meyek, pointing at the Eversor on the display. That Eversor wasn’t always free, they are almost always in cryopods waiting to be thawed or directly deployed in via drop pod. That _thing_ somehow got free and was now wreaking havoc in that section. If they didn’t stop it, it wouldn’t stop until someone put it down or it killed everyone on the ship.

“Because _I didn’t know_ ,” hissed Ray, handing the dataslate back to the Lord Admiral. “That thing’s going to kill everyone on this ship if we don’t do something about it, so I suggest you start thinking about how we’re going to achieve the impossible, Maksimov.”

“What _is it_ , Operative Arold?” persisted Thalia, refusing to yield on that line of questioning. 

Five pairs of eyes were on him now, Ray could feel them all boring into his skill, or Meyek certainly would be able to if he was Ray. Ray let out a sigh, “What’s down there, is one of us…” he said, gesturing to himself, Meyek and Meghann. “Clade Eversor.  Experts at wrecking everything between them and their objective, and then achieving whatever that objective might be. I’d prefer not to kill him, but he’s not going to give us that option, and when that happens he’s going to detonate.”

“Like a failsafe?” asked Shepard, clearly still trying to process what Ray had said. “In case something like this happens?”

“No, Shepard... Eversors are loaded with highly volatile battle stimulants, the regulators of which are designed to deliberately shut down when the Eversor dies.  It's meant to take as many of their attackers with them as possible,” explained Ray. “Eversor operatives are kept in cryo between missions and are programmed with their objective when they’re under. The one down there is probably trying to kill his way through the drop pod bay, and then the bridge once he finds out he isn’t where he’s supposed to be.”

"And you're certain there's no way to stop this Eversor without killing him?" asked Lord Admiral Parrington. "I'd rather not have an explosion on my ship and losing an asset like that would be quite the waste."

Ray thought for a second, and he looked like he was about to protest when he stopped. Tapping at his gauntlet, he brought up the schematics of the ship and focused on the section where the Eversor was presumed to be isolated to. Given that there was neither a drop pod launch nor any frantic calls for support over the vox, it was a safe bet that it remained to be the case. “Maybe, but I’m not even sure it’s going to work,” said Ray as he brought up one of the storage rooms. “This one’s relatively empty. If we can get him in there I can increase the room’s local gravity high enough that he can’t move. Once the drugs are flushed from his system, he should be ‘sane’ enough for us to talk down.”

“Why am I sensing a big ‘but’, though?” Meyek asked, a strong feeling that there was more to this plan than Ray was letting on lurking in the back of his head.

“Because, we’re going to need bait, and one of us is just not going to be enough. I’m going to need the both of you,” said Ray, looking over at Meyek and Meghann.

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” said Meyek, not feeling particularly enthused about the idea of facing an Eversor in close quarters.  Particularly the close quarters of a void ship.

“What about us?” asked Shepard. “You guys are going to need some serious backup down there.” There was a pause as the three assassins turned to face her, “If all that’s true, then you guys need to make sure that this doesn’t blow up in our faces, literally.”

That made Meyek smiled. Gallows humor was a skill, and Shepard certainly proved that she had it with that. “No aliens,” conceded Ray. “He sees any, and we’re going to have a hard time talking to him. Don’t even think about trying to pass off Liara or Tali in a sealed suit as either.”

“No aliens,” repeated Shepard, nodding. “Got it. What about Kaidan and Ashley? You think he’ll have a problem with the biotics?”

“No more than with the warp borne powers of a psyker,” said Ray, shrugging. “Bring them, you’re right, the biotics could certainly help, so will another gun.”

“You know that old Terran saying, right?” Meyek joked. “The more the merrier, am I right?”

_Twenty minutes later_

“So, what are we supposed to do if that _thing_ gets up close and personal? I never thought I’d catch myself saying this, but that sword and those claws look like they can do some serious damage,” said Gunnery Chief Williams as they approached the sealed bulkhead that led into the section where the Eversor had been closed in for now.

“Make sure he doesn’t,” Ray said over their shared frequency. Meyek glanced over at Williams and Alenko, and he couldn’t blame them. Eversors were frightening and devastatingly fast, with the combat drugs, such that they were too fast for even an Astartes to track—not that he needed to say or explain that to Williams and Alenko. Meyek had seen it himself, and the memory of the encounter on his previous assignment was uncomfortably fresh.

“Comforting,” said Alenko, looking at the blast door warily as Meyek typed the code in, almost as if he wondered if they were really enough to hold the Eversor in.

“Relax, Staff Lieutenant,” said Meghann, the ghostly green phase sword sliding out of its housing. “If he gets close enough, just leave him to me.” If anyone had a hope of holding their own in close quarter combat with an Eversor, it was a Clade Callidus operative. She could match his brute strength with a dexterity and grace that other Clade operatives only wished they had. The joke between the other clades was that they were the ‘Eldar’ of the clades, but Meyek had seen Eldar, and they had _nothing_ on Clade Callidus.

 Alenko nodded, and it was about then that Meyek finished keying in the pass code to override the lockdown on this sector.

“Override code accepted,” intoned the ghostly disembodied voice from the console as the blast doors began to recede into their housing.

The first thing that Meyek noticed was just how dark it was, even with the emergency lighting on. The Eversor was smart, and even though he couldn’t prevent the emergency lighting from kicking in, he had turned out the other lighting in the sector, which didn’t exactly make tracking him any easier.

Of course, he probably didn’t think he’d have three operatives from the Officio Assassinorum hunting him.

Meyek and Meghann could see fine, the low-light enhancing technology in his spy mask and in her mask let them see as though the ship’s regular lighting was active. “Everyone in, quick,” he said as he stepped inside, waiting for them. He surmised that their helmets didn’t quite have the low light vision for them to be comfortable enough to do so, and so he added, “Lumina—sorry, _flashlights_ , are fine. He can see us all just fine either way.”

Shepard, Williams and Alenko stepped in after turning on their luminators, bathing the corridor in warm off-white light as well. Meyek smacked the door controls with one hand once everyone was in, the other hand still holding onto his Exitus Pistol, the rifle slung across his back. In the close quarters of the corridors of this ship, fighting a foe as agile as an Eversor, he’d happily use his pistol instead.

The magazine in the weapon was loaded with bio-electric stun rounds, not that he thought that they’d have even the slightest effect on the Eversor, but they’d certainly get his attention. Just in case, he had another loaded with shredder rounds ready to go and within reach. The five of them continued to carefully advance through the corridor, and that was when the stench hit them, or rather it hit the three Alliance soldiers.

Ahead of them, were the corpses of the Ogryn Charonites. Chemical infused blood coated the walls, the red hue of the light giving them an almost alien appearance. One of the heads of the Charonites was detached from his body, dead eyes looking through a shattered helmet in their direction. “I think I’m going to be sick,” said Williams, retching.

Meyek saw the entrails of one sprayed across one of the walls.  Attempting comfort, he said, “Just keep looking forward, Williams.” He glanced over at Meghann, who didn’t seem particularly pleased about the discovery, either.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” replied Williams, shouldering her rifle and staring down the corridor, almost as if she looked hard enough the Eversor was just going to appear at the end of the corridor.

“Come on, that room we’re looking for should be just up ahead,” said Shepard, focusing her crew’s attention away from the massacre that had occurred here.

“What about the uh, ‘Eversor’?  Don’t we need to lure it in there?” asked Alenko, checking the area for any more unpleasant surprises.

“Something tells me that it’s going to come to us,” said Shepard as she stepped over the severed arm of one of the Charonites, the massive power claw still mostly attached to the hand. Meyek agreed with her on that, it sure as hell wasn’t going to take much looking, but the Eversor wasn’t going to walk into an obvious trap. They were going to have to give it a target that was too easy to refuse, and none of the Alliance members could do that without dying very messily.

Tentatively, the group advanced past the carnage and death that was the Eversor’s encounter with the Ogryn Charonites, advancing up to the T-Junction on their map. At the center of which was a sparking quad heavy bolter turret, the servo controller ripped right out of it. The four vid-relays that’d normally provide a perfect view of each corridor were all blown right off their mountings, the telltale shrapnel pattern of a bolt round quite evident.

“Mass reactive semi-armor piercing,” said Meyek, looking at the mark left in the ceiling by the bolt round after it detonated inside each vid-relay, then glancing at the pattern on the wall the shrapnel made. “Standard .70 caliber rounds,” he added once his Spy Mask had confirmed his own conclusion.

“You know, if this whole assassin thing doesn’t work out, you sure could make it as a detective,” said Williams. Meyek chuckled uneasily, not because of William’s joke, but because his highly attuned auspex suite picked up a faint return.

“You see it too, then?” asked Meghann, hers not being nearly as advanced as his own, but whatever their units picked up, was close enough. Another return was picked up, and now it indicated that the return was coming from behind them.

“It’s coming from behind us,” breathed Meyek as he swung around, shouldering his rifle and desperately searching for a target that he knew he’d never find until it was too late.

Shepard, Williams and Alenko followed his lead, their rifles snapping up and in the same direction.

“Behind us?” asked Alenko, the sheer confusion at how that had happened coming through in his voice quite clearly. “But how?”

Another auspex return, this time stronger, and coming from the same direction. Without even turning to look at the three Alliance personnel, not daring to, Meyek told them to do what he was sure they were thinking, “Run.” The three of them hadn’t fled yet, and so he turned his head as much as he dared and added, “ _now_!”

Just as the three Alliance personnel decided that they weren’t going to argue with him, a blood curdling cry came from the relative darkness ahead. Still nothing, and Meyek cursed everything under his breath. The sound of the withdrawing Alliance personnel was the only sound, and the only indication that there was something there was the blur of motion and the barely perceptible _whoosh_ and hum of the Eversor’s neurogauntlet and power sword.

Meyek tossed himself backward, having no option to do so with much grace at all. Landing on his back, he kicked himself to his feet, slinging his rifle and drawing his pistol in one fluid motion. His spy mask still had the Eversor marked as friendly, and cursing, Meyek then began muttering the rites of override. A moment later and the outline around the Eversor changed from green to red. His delay however cost him greatly and given the proximity of Meghann and the Eversor he didn’t want to risk hitting her by using manual targeting alone.

They were moving at speeds that most could barely track, however for as dexterous and agile Meghann was, the Eversor was just persistent and vicious. He matched her acrobatic and deft dodges with brutal follow up strikes. Taking a breath, Meyek took aim and fired a single bio-electric stun round into the top of the Eversor’s shoulder, where his suit’s armor was the thinnest. A burst of red and the hiss of acid eating through metal accompanied the sound of the round impacting into the Eversor’s back.

The Eversor took an angry stab at Meghann with his Neurogauntlet, the Clade Callidus operative barely dodged it, and the Eversor’s weapon instead impacted the wall, slicing through the hull plating in a shower of sparks before becoming embedded in it. The Eversor snarled as he tried to pull it free, the delay brought them some time, and Meyek put another bio-electric stun round into the Eversor.

The stun rounds could generate a charge strong enough to put an Ogryn down, but the Eversor merely snarled at him in response, even with both rounds jolting him with more energy than he should have been able to take. Their capacitors would fry before they could generate enough collective charge to put him down at this rate. Meyek put another shot into the Eversor, who still had his back turned to him.

Meghann took this opportunity to deliver a powerful roundhouse kick to the Eversor’s midsection. This staggered the Eversor, if only for a moment. She then attempted to use her Phase Sword to slice the still embedded Neurogauntlet when what looked like a Volkite Charger popped up from the Eversor’s pack. She was barely able to throw herself out of the way when a Volkite beam cut through where she’d been standing a moment ago.

The beam glanced her side, and Meyek cursed everything. They’d barely made a dent against this bastard and he was already breaking out the integrated weapon systems? Meyek emptied the rest of the magazine into the Eversor, hoping that it would do something, because it was slowly getting more and more impossible to try and keep this maniac alive.

Meghann staggered back against the wall for the briefest fraction of a second, probably from the shear pain of being glanced by a Volkite weapon. The Exitus pistol clicked empty, a red warning glyph flashing in his HUD advising him to both switch to a different ammunition type and another informing him that the weapon was now empty. The Eversor, saw the opportunity and swung his power sword to bisect the Callidus operative.

The weapon barely glanced Meghann when it should have gutted her, the Eversor dropping the sword. His roar drowned Meghann’s cry of pain out, and the cause of it was revealed to be Meyek, who’d embedded one of his power daggers in the Eversor’s arm.

The other dagger in his hand, Meyek charged forward and threw himself at the Eversor, leaping onto his back. The Eversor was just barely caught off guard, but in the time it took Meyek to sever the power cables to the Volkite Charger on his back, the Eversor was able to reach up and grab the offending Vindicare by the arm.

He threw Meyek into the wall, hard. Everything hurt, and it took Meyek a moment to realize that it wasn’t his spy mask that was malfunctioning, it was his own vision that was blurring. He could see Meghann stagger away from the wall, putting pressure on her wound. The Eversor struggled to free himself. Meyek watched the Eversor, he seemed focused enough that Meyek was sure that he could withdraw. No way he could reload his pistol without the Eversor noticing and eviscerating him. He’d dropped his knife when he’d hit the wall, and the other knife was still embedded in the Eversor’s arm, corrosive blood still dripping down onto the deck from the wound, the knife’s power field the only thing keeping it safe.

Meyek took a breath and tensed his muscles to make a break for it. Meyek was barely a whisker off the ground when he reflexively howled in pain, a sharp pain in his side. Looking down, he saw the Eversor’s boot pressed up against him, three matte black claw like blades embedded in him. For a moment, he thought that they were pinning him against the wall, when he realized, horribly, as he tried to push the other assassin’s leg away, that it was the Eversor’s crushing brute strength doing that.

The Eversor didn’t say anything, but instead glared at him with that leering skull helmet. Then he twisted his foot, and Meyek let out another agonized cry. “We’re trying to keep you alive, you, dumb bastard,” rasped Meyek, looking up at the Eversor with a mix of frustration and pain in his voice. The Eversor didn’t respond, and Meyek thought he saw a hint confusion in the Eversor’s movements.

Blood flowing from the three wounds in his side, Meyek had a strong feeling that this was where he was going to die. He leaned back, knowing that no matter what he did this Eversor was going to kill him. “Just fugging get it over with,” he rasped, looking away and letting his arms go slack. He’d already stared death in the face, and he had no intention to do so any longer.

The sound of weapons fire filled the corridors, particularly mass effect weapons. Two assault rifles chattered before they were drowned out by a louder sounding boom from what could only be Shepard’s sniper rifle. He felt the three blades withdraw as the Eversor was knocked backward from the kinetic impact of the rounds. Where they’d managed to score wounds, corrosive blood oozed out, hitting the deck with a hiss.

It was barely a perceptible fraction of a second later that the Eversor was already up and charging at the offenders who thankfully ran for their lives, though Meyek was almost sure that wouldn’t be enough. Knowing there just simply wasn’t enough time to patch himself up, he jabbed a stim injector into his thigh before drawing his pistol and loading a magazine with kinetic impact rounds into the weapon with instinctual familiarity.

Meghann was already up and moving after the runaway time bomb, and Meyek stumbled after her. As they rounded the corner, they were greeted by the sight of Alenko struggling to hold it in a stasis field. Along the way, the Eversor had clearly picked up his power sword, if not for Alenko, the others would surely have been eviscerated by now.

Meyek fired a single shot, it hit the Eversor like a ton of bricks, forcing him back. The recoil of the round fired from his pistol was far stronger than when fired from a larger weapon like his rifle, and it bucked in his hands. The Eversor, staggered, but not out of the fight by any means, turned and charged. Meyek’s second round staggered him again, and this time, Meghann sliced his power sword off at the hilt, disarming him of that weapon.

The kinetic impact round was designed to punch through engine block of a hover truck or reduce an unarmored man to nothing but meat, the Eversor however, was still coming. Deprived of his power weapon, he began reaching for his pistol. Meyek should have aimed for center mass, and the shot probably would have put him down long enough for them to toss him in the room.

Acidic, combat drug laced blood flowed freely from the Eversor’s wound where the first round hit, enough that he should be on the floor from blood loss before long. Problem was, the Eversor didn’t need long to kill them. Whether it was panic, or because he was already injured himself and losing blood fast, the round didn’t hit the pistol like he was intending. Instead it barely clipped the pistol, luckily enough for them all, the energy transfer from the collision was enough to knock the weapon right out of the Eversor’s hands.

Meyek didn’t even have enough time to get another shot off, and it wasn’t that the Eversor was faster than he was, it was that the Eversor was _just as fast_ as he was. The only hope that he had was to put more distance between the two of them. The Eversor’s hand closed around his throat and lifted him up, and barely a second went by as it became distinctly difficult to breathe. “Vindicare,” snarled the Eversor, Meyek assumed that realization had hit him at last, though the death grip around his throat didn’t loosen.

“Took. You. Fugging. Long. Enough,” coughed out Meyek, enunciating each word taking great effort and using precious oxygen. Meyek was between the Eversor and Shepard and her unit, they couldn’t fire if they wanted to, or they could and he’d become a lovely bullet sponge for the Eversor before he killed them. Thankfully, they didn’t. 

For the second time in less than a minute, Meyek was sure that he was going to die. That was until a ghostly green blade slid through the Eversor’s torso. The Eversor snarled with the pain, and his death grip on Meyek’s neck loosened enough for him to be able to breathe again. The Eversor spun to face Meghann, which took his attention off of Meyek just enough for him to bring his pistol up again.

At this range, the Eversor was knocked back several feet from the force, and the impact of the round forced him to drop Meyek. Heaving breath into his oxygen starved lungs, Meyek’s vision was far too blurry to see the Eversor clearly, but he could see that the Eversor was standing in front of the open door to the room that they were trying to trap him in. He heard Meghann’s voice over the vox, “Kaidan, now!”

A blur of biotic energy flew over him and slammed into the Eversor, sending him flying into the room behind him. “Ray,” he rasped, unable to say much more as he continued to struggle to breathe, hoping that the Vanus took that as a cue to execute his part of the plan.

Thankfully, he did.

The doors shut and sealed with a _hiss_ of hydraulics, and he could only assume that Ray had increased the local gravity in the room. “Sealed and going to be sleeping off the drugs pretty soon. Damn, you guys got your asses kicked.” Meyek tried to summon the energy to tell him what he thought of that, but he simply couldn’t. As he leaned back against the wall, he heard Ray add, “Lockdown’s been lifted, medics are on their way.”

Meghann slumped down beside him, and he could hear Shepard and squad’s boots on the deck. He was still bleeding from the stab wounds in his side, and it’d certainly sliced through more than a few internal organs than was great for him, but at least the really important ones were still intact.

Meghann was hardly better off.  The Volkite weapon had charred flesh where it had glanced Meghann, the suit where it had impacted was flash vaporized, showing the burned skin underneath. The power sword had done another number, there was a diagonal slash that would have her guts spilling out if it was any deeper.

Whatever dark age tech they’d been stuffed with was keeping them alive. Something in their blood as far as he understood, it was stitching them back together as they sat here. It had kept their systems flooded with hormones,          so they could stay fighting when they should have collapsed long ago. With shaking hands, he flipped up his Vindicare Spy Mask.

Turning, he could see Meghann had her mask off too, and taking a few more breaths to stabilize his breathing as much as was possible and steady his words, he said, “Can we…never do that again?” She barely managed a short laugh in response. He coughed, then added, “Fugging seriously…try and take…an Eversor alive. What kind of dumb fuggers are we?” 

“The dumbest,” said Shepard as she walked over, removing her helmet and looking down at the two of them. “How are the two of you even _alive_? Much less _conscious_?” The sheer bewilderment was evident in Shepard’s voice, and Meyek couldn’t blame her. He’d almost died _twice_ in the same five—no, less-than-five-minute span, and almost definitely looked it.

“That sounds accurate,” agreed Meghann, looking down at her hand, and seeing it covered in fresh blood nodded to herself. “It’s…a long story,” she breathed, not able to give much more energy to her words.

“Fuck that,” said Williams as she bent down and moved Meghann’s hand off, before applying some sort of strange gel from her gauntlet. Meyek was curious enough to glance over, and immediately the bleeding began to slow. She looked up from what she was doing and asked what she was intending to before she decided to tend to their wounds, “How the fuck is _he_ alive? I mean, you put what, three rounds into him?”

“And then some. Ten stun rounds, three kinetic impact rounds,” corrected Meyek, watching as Shepard mirrored what Williams did for his own wounds. “I mean, at least he isn’t dead.”

 “Are we sure he isn’t dead?” asked Alenko, looking at the door with what was clearly poorly hidden worry.

“We’re not blown up yet,” Meyek managed, a bit more annoyed than he’d intended.  Alenko would probably forgive the tone, a less pain-fuzzy part of his brain decided.

The clanging of mag boots against the deck heralded the arrival of the medical team, along with the whirring of tracked servitors. Meyek closed his eyes, he could get a couple hours of rest before they had to deal with the problem. After all, they were not going to be able to keep that particular problem locked away forever. He just hoped it wasn’t going to be as painful as this go around.

_Several Hours Later_

Intensive surgery was something that Meyek had only experienced a few times in his life. Yes, whatever dark age tech that was in his blood would eventually stitch him back together, but there was no point in _not_ helping it along. Truth was, that he hadn’t been this badly hurt in a while, and he hadn’t lost this much blood in a while. It was certainly a humbling experience, and one that he’d likely never forget. Where he’d normally be overflowing with quips and wise remarks, he was completely silent, and that wasn’t only because he barely had the energy to speak. He had a lot to think about.

Part of what was bothering him was why he’d leapt onto the Eversor’s back. Yes, he’d done plenty of stupid things in his life before, but this was a little much even for him. In the time he’d taken to do that, he could easily switched mags and destroyed the power line of the Volkite Charger on the Eversor’s back. Maybe not before he got a follow-up shot on Meghann, but certainly before the Eversor turned in his direction. She’d certainly been returning the favor later, right? Right? He let out a sigh as his mind swam with those thoughts. It had been bothering him ever since he’d got out of surgery. 

Transferred from the automated surgical table to rest, dressed in a Medicae gown, he waited undisturbed on the bed until the Magos Biologis who had conducted the surgery opened the curtain and stepped in. She wasn’t a Saturnyne Tech Adept, her red robes identifying her as a Martian native, and clearly part of the Ordo Reductor detachment attached to this force. Apparently, having heard that the two of them were injured, she had insisted she be the one to treat them.

“Operative Maksimov,” she started, her voice free of the distortions of most Mechanicus personnel, due to her eschewing the use of the full face covering helmets or various augments used by her fellows. “It would appear that you have a visitor. I’ve instructed him to _not_ rile you up,” she added, looking at someone behind her.

Meyek already had a feeling that he knew who this was, and his suspicions were confirmed when Ray stepped past her.  “I’ll do my best, Magos,” said Ray as he looked from her to Meyek. “Do you feel as shit as you look?”

“What are you talking about, Ray?  I’m great, never been better,” he replied as he tried to move his hands to lock them behind his head, when a searing pain down his side stopped him. “Ahh, okay, maybe not that okay.” Frustrated with his current state of affairs, some of that frustration transferred into the look that he gave Ray, “What do you want?”

Ray looked him over, then pulled one of the nearby chairs over and sat himself down on it. The room was largely bare save for a few chairs for visitors, and a pair of side tables, one for the patient and the other’s surface a data-slate with a readout of the patient’s vitals. So Meyek didn’t really have anywhere else to direct his attention to but the Vanus operative sitting beside him. “I found some interesting information about our new friend, the Eversor.”

“My favorite person in the universe.  Just who I wanted to talk about, oh boy,” sighed Meyek, looking less than happy about the conversation topic, and for good reason too.

“It’ll explain what happened, so just try and pay attention,” snapped Ray, pausing for a moment, probably to collect his thoughts. “Our Eversor isn’t your average everyday explosive death monster.  He’s part of an attempt by Clade Eversor to increase the long-term viability of their operatives.”

Meyek nodded, he’d heard something about the Eversors needing to be stored in cryo because of how their combat drugs eat away at their organs, killing them slowly. It was no wonder they were such angry people, really.

Presumably because he hadn’t interrupted Ray yet, Ray continued, “According to what information I downloaded before we…you know…his batch of Eversors received additional glands that counteracted the effect of their combat drugs. The only problem is that they don't take to the effects of hypnoconditioning quite so well, and there's a high margin of error, wherein the Eversor, if released without any instructions whatsoever, tries to murder literally everything in sight.”

Meyek wasn’t known for his restraint, and so he let Ray know _exactly_ what he felt on this matter, “No fugging shit it’s a high margin of error! Murder everything in sight? You. Don’t. Fugging. Say, Ray. You. Don’t. Say.” Meyek was breathing heavily at this point, and Ray was still reeling from his outburst. “We nearly fugging died in there, and _that’s_ what you find?”

Ray had an admonished look on his face, “I-I thought you'd be happy to know that we don't have to worry about him dying of eventual organ failure a couple years down the line, and _then_ _exploding_.”

“Yeah, well, I’m _not_ ,” spat Meyek, taking a breath to steady his thoughts. “I’m kinda still processing nearly dying _twice_ trying to put that guy down so we could have a conversation with him. I mean, what if we _can’t_ reason with him, who’s going to have to go right back in there and deal with him, _you_?”

If Ray was insulted, he didn’t show it, in fact, he said nothing for a solid minute. “You done?” he asked, an impassive expression on his face. Meyek reluctantly nodded. “Good, because I wasn’t,” said Ray, irritation edging through. “I was going to tell you that I scanned his ident chip. His name’s Skall Modrak, ranked at Epsilon-Dan, just like the three of us. They call him, ‘The Binary Murderer’, because of the events on his home world of Meraxis Binary that got him recruited in the first place.”

Meyek had calmed down enough at this point that he was admittedly interested just _how_ someone had earned such a moniker from a group of people that were famed for their ability to kill vast numbers of people. “I knew that’d catch your interest,” said Ray, a smirk flickering across his features. “Modrak was born to a forge worker and his wife. There was an incident, local gangers came to intimidate his father for money, he didn’t have any to give. Mechanicus aren’t known for paying their workers well, even if they do keep them well fed and healthy. They decided they were going to make an example of him.” Ray frowned and then quickly added, “I’ll skip the gory details—no pun intended—of what happened with his family, but I will tell you that for a kid barely fourteen to kill twelve armed gangers with nothing more than a kitchen knife.  It was impressive enough.”

Ray continued with the story, Meyek listening silently and intently, “Now, I know you think this is where he got picked up and put into the system, right? Well, wrong. Those hab blocks are huge, and so these gangers are usually smart enough to hide when the Skitarii-Provosts come looking for who caused the trouble. Most of the time they get caught, but there’s enough gangers that it usually doesn’t matter. This guy—kid—decides he’s going to go on a killing spree. He’s got their guns now, and when you live in these sorts of places you get good and looking after yourself. Records of what happened are sparse, all that’s stated is that Skitarii-Provosts found him drenched in blood still clicking the trigger of an empty stub-automatic.”

There’s another long pause as Ray waited for Meyek to process the information. The way Ray spoke about a hab block like this led Meyek to believe that Ray was born in one. Meyek himself was born in the radioactive waste of Ursh, he’d known nothing of how that sort of life was beyond the instruction he’d received during his training.

“Since then, he’s been a very busy bee,” explained Ray. “The military academy on the human-xenos allied world of Selob II, the xenos fighter hive on Xeraxian Prime, the leadership of that attempted rebellion in the Merican Hives on Terra itself. The list goes on.”

“Well shit…” was all Meyek could manage.

This Eversor was more than impressive. It was no bloody wonder they were struggling against him. Killing an Eversor was one thing, incapacitating one was near impossible enough. An Eversor with this sort of record? Now it was Meyek’s turn to wonder how it was that they were alive. 

“Have you told Meghann this, yet?” he asked, wondering what his fellow assassin had to say on the matter.

“She’s still out, that glancing Volkite shot really did a number, flash incinerated some internals. She’s going to be just fine, I’m told,” said Ray. He patted Meyek’s side, thankfully not where he’d been injured and added, “Luckily for you, yours were just lacerated.”

“’Just lacerated’, that’s not something I ever thought I’d hear,” said a familiar voice, a voice belonging to none other than Commander Riley Shepard. Shepard was still in her armor, and she looked over Meyek with poorly hidden concern.

“Hopefully for us all you won’t have to again,” said Meyek, a lot softer than he normally spoke. “So, what’s the news, Shepard? Didn’t come in here to see how we were doing, did you?”

Shepard looked impressed, or in the very least caught off guard. “Not much slips past you, does it Meyek?”

Meyek shrugged, “Wouldn’t be a Vindicare if I wasn’t really, really good at watching people, would I, Shepard?”

Shepard tilted her head as if to say she understood. “I talked to…the Eversor,” said Shepard. “We reached an agreement, him and I.” Shepard probably saw the look on his face, because she quickly stopped herself and said, “Don’t worry, the Lord Admiral, Lord Marshall _and_ the… Arch…Magos, were there.”

Meyek was relieved, if only a little. “You didn’t bring him here, did you?” Meyek glanced at Ray, hoping it would stimulate remembrance of the Eversor’s name. “Skall, right? He’s not waiting around the corner or something.”

“Unless he’s done getting himself and his gear fixed and then moved on board, then I’d say no, he isn’t,” said Shepard. She could probably tell that he wasn’t exactly happy about the arrangement, he wasn’t trying to hide what he was thinking. “It’s better he’s helping us that sitting around here going crazy. Well…craz _ier_.”

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree on that, Shepard, but it’s your ship and your call,” said Meyek, letting out a sigh. “Are we getting back to things once we’re done here?”

“You two aren’t,” said Shepard, firmly, but politely. “I’m sorry Meyek, but it’s the doc’s orders. Chakwas and the docs here. Enhanced healing or not, you’re not to be in the field unless absolutely necessary.”

“Shepard, with most of the things you guys fight, it’s absolutely necessary to have someone like me around most of the time,” protested Meyek, perfectly serious. He quickly added, “No offence of course.”

“You’ll get no argument from me, you guys are really making the job a lot easier,” said Shepard, and she was being perfectly serious as well, at least as far as Meyek was concerned. “That’s why I’m taking Skall with me on this one.”

Meyek sighed again and turning to his right to see if Ray was enjoying this moment, he was slightly taken aback by what he presumed was a look of sympathy. “Can I at least know what the mission is that I’m missing?”

Shepard nodded, “I was talking to Garrus about what we were doing here, he mentioned a Salarian ‘doctor’ who was doing all sorts of vile experiments. He got away. Garrus thinks he’s found him again. So, we’ll be dealing with that before we head off to the Citadel.”

“Garrus knows the most charming people,” said Meyek, taking a quick moment to process what Shepard had said. “Maybe it’s a good thing we’re staying behind, not exactly in the mood to deal with something like _that_ after this.”

A smile flickered across Shepard’s features, “Looks like that’s worked out then.” She turned to Ray, “You’ll bring them aboard in an hour, right?” Ray nodded. “Good, I’ll see you three aboard then.”

**Commander Riley Shepard**

Ray had been right. Skall, as Shepard had recently discovered the Eversor was called, was actually fully capable of being a sensible, functioning person after his system was cleared of the combat drugs which turned him into a murder-machine easily capable of mass slaughter. Of course, Shepard also considered that the presence of the Lord Marshall, Lord General and the Archmagos had probably helped his receptiveness.

The _Fist of Judgement’s_ hangar was the only area of the Imperium’s gargantuan flagship that Shepard was in the slightest bit familiar with. It was similar enough to an Alliance hangar, even if the scale and the interiors were still very different. There were still fighters returning from patrol to waiting maintenance crews, pilots gathering to discuss their flights and presumably coordinate their use of downtime.

The crew was as different as the ship they served aboard, too. Shepard had thought she'd seen mean weapons, mean armor, mean sailors and soldiers, but these people brought that to a whole new level. Then there were the servitors. They were creepy enough. Most of them were in sealed armor, but those that weren’t had a dead expression on their face, and what genuinely horrified her was the fact that they were identifiably human, or humanoid, in most cases.

The names were another thing, some of them were normal enough, but then the others sounded like someone deliberately went around and changed the pronunciations and spellings just enough to make it different. It wasn’t isolated to weapons, or armor, but people and locations too. A few examples crossed her mind; the engine room became the enginarium and the medbay was the medicae.

She hadn’t talked to Meyek, Meghann or even Ray about them. They had enough on their minds adjusting to the galaxy she called home, and its intricacies. Maybe she should, since she didn't really know who else to ask or even where to begin with questions. Of course, she couldn't really ask the Lord Admiral or Lord Marshall, and she was even more hesitant to ask _Skall_.

“It’s a good view of the main launch deck,” said a voice from behind her, a voice she recognized as Lord Admiral Parrington’s. Shepard was caught up in her own thoughts enough that she didn’t quite notice the Lord Admiral approach. “I recognize that look,” she said, a smile now flickering across her own features. “First time on a ship of this pattern and I couldn’t quite get used to the scale either.”

“It’s certainly something,” admitted Shepard. “I grew up on Alliance warships and stations, so this is actually kind of oddly…familiar.”

“And at the same time very different,” said the Lord Admiral, getting a nod of agreement from Shepard. The Lord Admiral was standing perfectly straight with the grace of a woman who had spent decades observing protocol. Apparently, she was over a century old, even though she didn’t look it. Shepard didn’t really understand how, even though Ray had explained the concept of ‘rejuvenat treatments’. Shepard just hoped she looked that good at her age. “Not just the ship, though, is it, Commander? There’s a lot we do here that’s different from how you do things,” she added, presumably having seen the look on Shepard’s face.

“It’s…all a very different,” admitted Shepard, with a sigh. “All this – on top of the whole thing with the, um, Eversor. Just more reminders of how different we are, even though…”

“Alright, Commander, let me propose something. You can ask me a question which I will do my best to answer accurately and honestly, but in return for every answer I give that satisfies you, you must let me ask one of you. This is not in any official capacity at all, of course, just two officers speaking candidly,” said the Lord Admiral, relaxing her posture and leaning against the wall now, her hands folded in her lap.

Shepard gave it a thought. The Lord Admiral had been nothing but honest with them at every occasion, brutally so during their first meeting. She appreciated that honesty. Even though they were both human, the Admiral had sent three of what seemed like her best intelligence gathering assets on what was an alien ship with a commander she was barely familiar with. Shepard knew she was desperate for any help, and the help being offered by the Imperium was just far too good to refuse, even if it made no sense to her. Clearly, the both of them were desperate. Now that they had a little room to breathe, or really because the incident with the Eversor had forced them to come up for air, they could both afford to familiarize themselves with the situation and each other. Lord Admiral Parrington had clearly made the first move.

Shepard smiled, “Alright then, Lord Admiral, that sounds fair.” She paused for a moment in thought, and then asked, “I’m going to be honest, those servitor things creep me out, are those…you know, human?”

“The servitors you see on this ship and with our allies in the Ordo Reductor, Commander Shepard, are vat grown clones,” said the Lord Admiral. She paused for a moment to take a breath and compose her thoughts before she added, “It is also a form of capital punishment in the Imperium. The guilty are lobotomized and put to work as servitors. It’s harsh, yes, but only the worst offenders are ever really punished in this manner.  None of those, however, are in use here.”

Shepard didn’t really want to ask what ‘worst offender’ meant in the Imperium entailed. She found the whole concept of ‘servitorization’ to be, well, extreme. If the crime justified the punishment, then she wanted to know as little of the crime as was possible.

What was it that Meyek had said? That this whole thing with Saren was a typical Tuesday for them? That they faced threats like this on a semi-regular basis and dealt with them? “I can’t say I understand, or that I approve, but you answered the question.”

“Well you know that old Terran saying, Commander, curiosity killed that cat,” laughed Lord Admiral Parrington. “Alright, Commander, my turn,” she said, bringing her hand up to her face and stroking her chin in thought. “I’ve heard much about this Council and the first contact war even, but I can’t understand what with humanity’s rising naval power why they continue to marginalize our species.”

“They don’t think we’re ready,” admitted Shepard. “As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of agree.” Shepard hesitated for a moment, thinking about how she was going to word what she said next, “If I’m being honest though, I don’t think they are either, they just happen to make the rules on who gets to make the rules.” She scoffed, “I really hope they’re right and I’m wrong, that Saren’s working on his own and that I _am_ just going crazy.”

“Whatever’s out there in the void, Commander, we’ll face it together as a species, and the council won’t be able to deny humanity’s might for long,” said the Lord Admiral, looking genuinely annoyed to Shepard about humanity’s current lack of military might.

“People remember the First Contact War, Lord Admiral, the politicians are scared, and the people are scared too. Besides, there are several treaties we’ve signed with them prohibiting the production of dreadnoughts,” said Shepard.

“Yes, the Treaty of Farixen, I did read about that,” said the Lord Admiral. “Though, the Alliance seems to have somewhat overcome the limiting nature of the treaty with the construction of Carrier warships, if I’m to believe what Admiral Hackett has told me.” She paused for a moment, presumably in thought, “It’s very clever.”

“Still a few tricks up our sleeve,” said Shepard, smiling. She was impressed the Lord Admiral had done her reading. “Though I suppose they’d have a heart attack if they saw this ship.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’d do more than that,” said the Lord Admiral, a smile flickering across her features. It wasn’t a warm smile at all. It was cold and predatory, and that told Shepard all she needed to know about what the Lord Admiral thought of the Council.

“Fair enough,” said Shepard, nodding. She frankly didn’t think that the council races even had a ship that could touch the shielding on this vessel. She’d been on the Citadel before too, and when you took this ship into consideration, the Citadel didn’t seem so much like its namesake anymore. “So how’d you end up in command of a ship like this? There has to be a story involved.”

The smile on the Lord Admiral’s face faltered for barely a perceptible moment before returning, enough for Shepard to have noticed. If she had to guess, something about what she was about to say wasn’t entirely pleasant to remember. “Remember when we talked about the reunification of the galaxy, Commander?” asked the Lord Admiral. Shepard nodded. “Well, when the Great Crusade set out, my home system of Saturn was still fighting off a brutal invasion by a xenos species. If you want to know what we called them…well, we didn’t. There was enough of them that everyone knew what you were talking about. We were allies with the Imperium at the time, still are, but they hadn’t arrived yet and we couldn’t seem to force anything more than a stalemate.

The Lord Admiral paused, and the pleasant expression had entirely faded from his face at this point, “I was determined to follow in my father’s footsteps, so I joined him in the Saturnine Fleet. Which wasn’t easy, I’m not entirely high born, but that isn’t entirely relevant here.” There was another pause as she presumably collected her thoughts, “We gave them our best fight, but it soon became a game of who would act first. They did, and they took Iapetus from us. We launched a major offensive to breakthrough their blockade and get aid down to our beleaguered defenders.”

“We couldn’t get close, their blockade was far too effective, and they’d captured the orbital defenses,” she continued, sighing. “The only hope was to get in under the guns’ firing arcs. Of course, then we’d need someone crazy enough to launch an assault on the control complex, only man who was willing was my husband. Of course, then we were still only friends. Close friends, but friends nonetheless,” that was the only time Shepard saw her smile during the retelling of events, and she had a strong feeling it had to do with what was probably the only happy memory during that string of events.

The smile faded once more, and she continued, “My father led a diversionary assault to get their attention. His ship was one just like this, a mighty warship built by the shipwrights of the Jovian moons, but even it couldn’t stand up to the sort of punishment meted out to it. He got me on the comms when critical systems started to fail on his ship. Told me he was proud, of what I’d done, of the officer I’d become…”

She sighed exasperatedly, “Thankfully for the entire fleet, Bertie and his men had taken the surface to orbit gun command complex and had turned them on the enemy ships. Despite opposition from the Admiralty board, I was promoted and given a seat on it, which was in part a necessity, given the losses we had sustained. In a few months, our mutual acquaintance Archmagos Hypax had returned, and he’d brought with him Imperial reinforcements. With their support, the moons were ours once more. Despite the fact that we were indebted to the Imperium, we set out on the Great Crusade with them with great conviction, filled with a burning desire to prevent what happened to us from happening to any of the other lost colonies of man. Eager to get rid of me, I suppose, they gave me a new Jovian-pattern Gloriana-class Battleship and sent me out with the rest of the 21st Expeditionary Fleet.”

Somehow, it didn’t surprise Shepard to learn how far back the Lord Marshall, Lord Admiral and the Archmagos went. The story reminded Shepard of her own experiences in many ways. Her stand on Elysium against the Batarians was remembered to this day. Many said it was the reason that she was chosen to serve on the _Normandy._ “A hard-earned command if I ever heard of one,” said Shepard.

Lord Admiral Parrington nodded, “We all have our scars, Commander. That brings me to my next question, there’s a story that your actions during what Admiral Hackett called the Skylian Blitz was what led you to be chosen as the _Normandy’s_ XO. Of course, if I’m to assume correctly, your appointment as the first human Spectre making you it’s commanding officer. Is that correct?”

Shepard had to think, had to think about how to talk about the mess of events that led to both of those things. Once more, the Lord Admiral had proven that she had access to a vast array of information. She had assumed that Ray was responsible for that. “Correct on both counts, Lord Admiral. Just doing my job is all.”

Lord Admiral Parrington shook her head slowly, “I’d have to disagree there, Commander. I read the accounts of what happened that day. You and your squad almost singlehandedly stopped the enemy advance. They had you outnumbered and outgunned. You went above and beyond the call of duty, Commander.” There was a definite pause, after which she added, “I recognized the look in your eyes when you talked about Saren when we first met.”

“Are you saying that you trusted me because of that?” asked Shepard, not quite sure where she was going with this.

“No, Commander, I’m saying that I trust you now,” replied the Lord Admiral, and it was then that Shepard understood. This was the tentatively extended hand, all of what had happened so far had been sizing her and hers up. Perhaps to see what the Alliance would do. Shepard didn’t know if she felt relieved, or as if a lot more pressure had been placed on her.

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov**

_One hour, a long conversation and an exasperated Vanus later_

The _Normandy’s_ medbay was a lot smaller than the one on the _Fist of Judgement_ , he had to admit that it looked a lot…neater. There were less servitor controlled surgical apparatus, and far less medical personnel. In fact, to Meyek it looked like a doctor’s office and medbay in one. On the list of good things that had happened, he was out of that stupid medicae gown, Ray had to deal with Meghann’s equally confused and angry reaction to his news and probably best of all, the Eversor hadn’t come around yet.

“You’re oddly calm, Mr. Maksimov,” said Dr. Chakwas, who was inspecting the fresh scars and bruises on his torso. “From our last meeting I was expecting a remark about my hands being too cold.”

“I don’t know, Doc.  What can I say, eh? That nearly dying is a very sobering experience?” asked Meyek, staring up at the ceiling, his eyes having adjusted to the bright light almost immediately. For some reason, Meyek didn’t like watching doctors work. He had a general idea of what they were doing but didn’t like watching directly. He couldn’t for the life of him figure out why that was.

“Perhaps next time something not quite as morbid?” asked Chakwas as she looked up from what she was doing. She half-shrugged, “As accurate as that statement was.” There was a slightly awkward pause in the conversation, before Chakwas piped up again, “I saw him walking around, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to his first checkup.”

Meyek didn’t really want to talk about the Eversor, and as such he quickly tried to end that topic then and there.  Flatly, “I’m sure he’s a great guy and we’re all giving him shit for no reason.”

Chakwas took the dubious cue from the assassin and moved back a step back from Meyek, “Mr. Maksimov, it looks like you are healing well. Your organs are holding well and the scar tissue is healing. It’s nothing short of miraculous.” She looked down at the dataslate in her hand, and then looked back up at him, “With what information they gave me about what is in the both of you, I’d say it’s a miracle of science.”

“Don’t feel so miraculous, Doc,” complained Meyek, shifting in the bed, “scientifically or otherwise.”

“Please don’t make me laugh,” groaned Meghann from the bed next to his, a genuine look of discomfort on her face. She was Clade Callidus, so either the pain was bad enough that she couldn’t quite control her own reflexive emotions, or she trusted him enough that she was letting what she really felt show. For Clade Callidus, that was something.

“Well, sorry we had to have the same sense of humor,” he replied, staring back up at the ceiling. He could see Chakwas walking over to check her over, and waited for a minute before he spoke again, “Thanks, by the way, for having my back in the end.”

“If it wasn’t for you, Meyek, I’d be flash vaporized,” said Meghann, matter of fact. He turned to look at her now. He could see that Dr. Chakwas was clearly doing her best to not react. “I was returning the favor is all,” she replied.

“The only question I have at this point is whether I’m going to get used to both of your very casual mention of a grisly death,” breathed Chakwas as she continued her check-up.

“Probably, Doc, if we’re around long enough,” said Meyek, a cheeky grin forming on his face.

“In that case, Mr. Maksimov, I will just have to do my best to keep the two of you alive, despite your best efforts,” said Dr. Chakwas. Meyek couldn’t help but laugh. It hurt, naturally, but he was glad that Chakwas’ sense of humor was similar to his own, too.

**Clade Eversor Operative Skall Modrak**

Skall was in the hangar bay waiting for Ray to finish calibrating his suit’s systems to be able to communicate seamlessly with the people of this…place. Humans and xenos working together all united for one purpose. It was…impressive, and the cause was noble too. Of course, there would be cracks. There are _always_ cracks in alliances like this.

He could see them assembling now, the Krogan, most immediate threat in the room. Biotics, resilience, strength and high focus on close range stopping power. A shot to the head, disable the limbs to be safe. Use Volkite to bypass ‘kinetic barriers’. The Turian, the marksman among them. Keep suppressed with bolt pistol, either eliminate with Volkite or close the gap and eviscerate. Then there was Shepard. She was human. Armor was light. Limited stealth capabilities. She’s augmented, faster than normal reflexes. Not as fast as he was. Same method, close gap and eviscerate.

Only, he wasn’t here for that. He wasn’t made for cooperation, he was made to kill. No, he was born that way. They say that the best Eversors are the ones that are lucid when the drugs kick in. He disagreed. He believed that the best Eversors were the ones who stayed lucid and were able to still able to reign in their blood lust. Efficiency was the key. That is why he always hated the hypnoconditioning, especially after the procedure. It always clouded his mind. Made it hard for him to think.

Perhaps that is why they’d sent him here, to get rid of him, a failed experiment doomed to die. He wasn’t going to die, he was going to kill everyone and everything that got in his way to his objective. The objective? Ensure mankind’s survival, and its dominance in these strange yet familiar stars.

The translation suite let him seamlessly understand their alien tongues, and as far as he understood it, helped them understand each other. He wasn’t actively listening, but he could tell they were talking about him. The whole ship was, apparently. The other assassins had set a precedence, and what he had done to them was apparently enough to impress and terrify the crew. _Good_.

He noticed the Krogan kept looking in his direction, before laughing heartily, seemingly at odds with his companions. He turned his skull helmet in the direction of the three, one, the Quarian seemed to visibly recoil. The Turian didn’t look ecstatic either, unfortunately he was still learning Turian body language.

The Krogan let out a dark and throaty chuckle, “I was just telling these two that anyone that kicked Meyek’s ass can’t be too bad, even if it only shut him up for a couple hours.”

Skall narrowed his eyes at that, cocking his head just slightly. He didn’t know the Vindicare very well, and Ray hadn’t mentioned this to him as of yet. Even so, he’d reserve his judgement till he met them. First, Commander Shepard apparently had an assignment for him.

“A compliment,” said Skall, now fully turning the leering skull helm toward them. “Reserve them for after we’ve completed our current assignment.” He punctuated his statement by racking the slide on his bolt pistol.

The Krogan seemed to approve of this action, and he gestured toward him as though he further proved his point, “See?”

Skall turned to Ray, who nodded to signify that he was done. Wordlessly, Skall rebooted his helmet’s vox suite.

“Communications check,” he whispered into his mic, even though his HUD told him that the link was both secure and strong. Their encryption standards were a little lax, though Ray had assured him that he was working on a new standard for this…joint operation.

It was Shepard’s arrival and her response over the comms that restored Skall’s confidence in this team. “We’re dropping out of FTL in five. Transponder code checks out, Garrus. Looks like it’s our man.” She then turned in his direction, and said, “Comms are clear, Skall. It’ll be good to have you with us.”

He knew it was a lie, but she was trying to make him feel welcome nonetheless.

“I’ve been waiting years for this,” replied the Turian, who then cast what Skall thought was an uncomfortable glance in his direction. His enhanced hearing picked up what the Turian must have thought was normal volume, “Commander, are we sure it’s the best idea to uh…doesn’t this perhaps warrant a little subtlety?”

“I am an operative of the Officio Assassinorum. Ask your commander about my mastery of subtlety,” he said, trying to hold back the venom, and failing.

“Skall’s right.  I didn’t even hear him coming,” said Shepard, managing not to react to the memories his statement no doubt triggered. They had to be fresh on her mind, he knew the effect he had on people, and there was _nothing_ like him here. The others were no less capable, but _he_ was a true weapon of terror and dread. “This is your operation, Garrus, but Skall’s going to be showing us how he can work in a team today,” she said, then turning to face him. “Even though Ray’s assured me your record says you can, you might understand how after our first meeting that I need a little proof of it.”

“Perfectly,” said Skall, murky memories of fighting the other two assassins flashing through his mind. It felt like they were a lot older, but they weren’t, he knew that. Shepard had been taking a huge risk when she’d let him aboard her ship, and he knew that she knew it. She was just trying to see if it was worth it. Skall had nothing to prove. The only thing he was doing was making amends to the two people in the medicae above decks. That, and there was finally something for him to do.

“Good,” said Shepard, once more proving to Skall that she was a good commander, able to keep her personal feelings well out of the matter at hand. He remembered the agreement that they’d made. He’d keep killing whatever enemies to humanity presented themselves, as long as she didn’t question him about his methods. “Skall, Garrus and Wrex, meet me at the upstairs airlock,” she said, looking over at them, before her eyes settled on him once more. “And Skall?”

“Yes?” he asked, his grip tightening around his Executioner pistol, his Sentinel Array initialized, filling his HUD with data streams he was all too familiar with processing. It was the calm before the storm, and Skall relished every moment of it.

“Try not to frighten the crew,” she said, apparently sensing the anticipation in him.

Under his Skull Helmet, a thin smile pulled on his weathered features, “No promises.”

_On board the Fedele_

“They’re still not responding, ma’am,” came the voice of the Alliance Officer called Navigator Presley. “I don’t like the sound of this.”

Skall knew this was the case. If something had gone wrong and everyone was dead, the ship would be in a far worse shape. The scans had shown the ship to be fitted with medical research modules, from what information Ray had left him, he was sure that this ‘Dr. Saleon’ was continuing to practice his pseudo-science from in here.

As she stepped in through the inner door of the airlock, Shepard delivered her response, “That makes two of us, Presley.” Garrus followed her through, his HMWA assault rifle shouldered and at the ready.

Wrex followed through next, a HMWSG shotgun held in his. Wrex sniffed at the air before visibly recoiling. “It smells _wrong_ in here, Shepard. Like a bad wound,” growled the Krogan.

Skall’s sentinel array picked up a host of contacts, easily able to penetrate the ship’s internal bulkheads and hull plating. “Wrex is right,” he said. “Multiple contacts, humanoid, abnormal blood temperature and pressure.” This only proved his theory regarding what was going on in this ship. 

“Does that thing tell their cholesterol too?” asked Shepard, attempting humor, he supposed, as she fixed the Sentinel Array on his back with an appreciative glance. His silence told her enough. “Alright, then. Skall, you and Wrex check that out. Garrus and I will check engineering.”

Skall didn’t need telling twice. With only a cursory glance to see that the Krogan Battlemaster was following him, he was on the move. He found himself begrudgingly admitting that the Krogan was faster on his feet than he’d initially surmised. The trudging of feet snapped him out of his thoughts, the very rhythm of the movement was so obviously inhuman. With practiced ease, the Clade Eversor operative blinked at the rune on his HUD that controlled his pistol’s safety controls.

No sooner than the first shambling discolored mess had rounded the first crate in the bay, did its head explode as a bolt round detonated in it. The sound of the round detonating was drowned out by the inhuman sounds that announced the arrival of the others, a shrill grating noise that wheedled its way through his helmet’s sensors. “And people question why Krogan hate Salarian doctors…” deadpanned Wrex.

The sentinel array picked up Wrex charging up a biotic attack, if Skall remembered the dossier of biotic powers Ray had talked him through, he’d surmise it was a powerful biotic throw. Similar to what Alenko had used on him. There were plenty of the shambling creatures, who were now charging at them with abandon. Seven rounds left, more than enough to buy the Krogan time. His bolt pistol continued to discharge rounds, splattering sickening green vitae onto the ground with the detonation of each explosive bolt round.

Wrex grunted with the exertion of channeling the biotic energy which rushed outward from him. It struck the next tide of shambling creatures, tossing them into the hull with a satisfying _crunch-splat_. Skall and Wrex shared a look, both of them clearly unconvinced that the Biotic Throw had done it. Both charged. Skall lunged, moving with a speed that probably reduced him to a large blur of deadly motion for Wrex, hacking and slashing with his new power sword. Wrex settled for blasting them in the face with several point-blank shotgun blasts.

Skall swung his power sword to get the bits of flesh and fluid off. Most of the gore had been flash vaporized on contact with the power field, but some of it remained on parts of the weapon that the power field didn’t cover.  He gave it a brief examination to ensure he’d cleared the gore. His old weapon—the one destroyed by the Callidus—had fashioned in the style of ancient Terran Longswords and sometimes needed an extra swipe to clear off entirely. This weapon was a Shashka. Not a weapon used by the Rams, but popular with the Alpha Legion, he recalled. The weapon’s balance was different, it was a far lighter blade, designed for swift thrusts or swings. Skall liked it, combined with the weapon’s matter disruption field and his own strength and agility it was quickly becoming his new favorite weapon. Though it didn’t need it, he flicked the power sword again.

“Not bad, Krogan,” he said, admiring their joint handiwork. The Krogan had proved he could fight, and not only that but fight well alongside someone whose capabilities he knew precious little about.

“Heh,” grunted Wrex. “You weren’t so bad yourself. I guess you stopped shooting only because you ran out of bullets.”

“I was buying you time, Krogan,” Skall drawled, as he removed the spent magazine and placed it on his webbing, loading a new one with practiced ease.

Before Wrex could respond, Skall picked up Shepard and Garrus’ entrance into the cargo bay. “Engineering was empty, but it looks like you two found something.”

“Looks like Saleon is doing more than cloning organs,” observed Garrus, looking at corpses in the main cargo bay.

“Not anymore, he isn’t,” said Wrex, putting another shotgun blast into one of the corpses. He then turned off in the direction of the cockpit. Skall fell in step with the Krogan, humming power sword in hand. “Come on, you Pyjacks.  We’ve got a Salarian to kill.” 

Garrus and Shepard fell in behind them. The four of them moved relatively coherently, by Skall’s standards in any case. He took point, with Wrex immediately behind him. Garrus watched their rear, putting Shepard in the ‘middle’.

The cockpit doors had one of those hololithic interfaces that he’d been briefed on. Skall didn’t use it. Shock and awe was a far more preferable tactic. He blinked at the Volkite Charger’s activation rune, and before any of the others could complain, the weapon extracted itself from its housing and was ready to fire. With practiced ease, Skall cut an Eversor sized cutout in the door and kicked it in before the edges could even begin to cool. He was in, power sword and neurogauntlet at the ready, but both his enhanced senses and the sentinel array already told him that it was empty. “Empty,” he snarled, in disappointment.

“Only one door we haven’t checked,” said Wrex, standing in front of the door behind Skall to the right. Skall immediately turned around with interest stacking up on the other side of the door. He could see Shepard roll her eyes behind her unpolarized visor before moving behind the door and opening it.

Behind it, was the Salarian doctor. Shepard lowered her pistol, if only momentarily, based on her stance. He could tell that Shepard didn’t trust the Salarian, but she was clearly waiting for Garrus’ confirmation. Garrus provided that immediately, “Commander, that’s him, that’s Dr. Saleon.”

The Salarian protested pathetically, like the depraved, weak and cowardly thing it was, “What? My name is Heart. Dr. Heart. Please, get me out of here.”

From where he was, he could see Shepard hesitate, if only for a moment. “Are you sure it’s him?”

“Positive. There’s no escape this time. It’s time someone put an end to your monstrous ways,” said Garrus. Skall recalled a conversation Shepard had with Garrus as they were entering about ensuring that they didn’t take the law into their hands, as it made them no better than him. Skall could see the Salarian reaching for a weapon. He immediately stepped in front of Shepard and advanced on the Salarian.

The Salarian must’ve been watching the security footage because he stopped reaching for his weapon. All he let out before Skall grabbed him by his throat was a whimpered, “No, you brought the monster.”

Skall brought him up to eye level, “It is rude to attempt to draw a weapon on those who offer to spare your pathetic existence.” The Salarian didn’t—couldn’t—respond, instead he just gurgled as his lungs struggled for a breath of recycled air. Skall snapped his neck, discarding the body to the side. Turning around, he faced the others.

“Good catch,” was all Shepard said for a moment. “We’re done here. I don’t want anyone picking up his work, so Skall, want to do me a favor?”

“Burn it all?” asked Skall, blink clicking the activation rune for his integrated flamer, which extricated itself from its on his back.

Shepard nodded, “Burn it all.” As Shepard, Garrus and Wrex turned to leave, they left behind the silhouette of an Eversor and the blazing lab of a madman.

**Clade Vindicare Operative Meyek Maksimov**

Real, deep sleep, was something that Meyek hadn’t had the pleasure of experiencing in quite a while.

He was tempted, laying here on this bed in the _Normandy’s_ med bay. But his training didn’t let him. His heart rate was slowed to the rate of one beat per solar day, and so his body for the most part rested, but his mind did not. It was because of that however, that the moment his enhanced hearing picked up footsteps outside the door, that he snapped awake, his hand instinctively reaching for his pistol on the foldout table.

His Exitus Pistol was in his hands before the door started opening, time had slowed to a crawl for him. It took him precious few microseconds to look around the room. Chakwas wasn’t here. The room was empty save for Meghann and himself. She was up too, her Ikanos Bolt Pistol was in her hands as well. The two of them shared the briefest of acknowledging looks before they both returned their attention to the door.

The door opened to reveal Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, who was extremely shocked to find two massive pistols pointed at her. “Whoa, I didn’t know I was target practice.” Both weapons were lowered as soon as they’d gone up. Lieutenant Alenko stepped in behind her. “The LT just cooked something up for the two of you, and I thought I’d drop in with him to see how you were doing.”

“You didn’t have to,” said Meghann, putting her pistol back down on the fold-out side table.

“No, no,” insisted Alenko stepping into the medbay after Williams. “I wanted to, really. Besides, with the commander helping Garrus with that Salarian mad scientist problem of his, I had some free time.”

“You need a hobby, Alenko,” said Meyek, giving the Lieutenant an odd look, then putting his pistol down as well.

“Actually, this _is_ my hobby,” said Alenko, extending the bed’s fold-out tray over him and putting the plate down on it, before doing the same for Meghann. Meyek looked down at the plate. It was long strings of something, piled up in a small pile and covered in some sort of red meat sauce. “It’s whole wheat spaghetti Bolognese. I checked with Dr. Chakwas on portions, should be just as much as you guys are allowed.”

Meyek prodded at the food with his utensil. “Uh, just one question. What the hell is spaghetti Bolognese?”  Meyek lacked the training on the galaxy’s cultures that Meghann had, and this was one place where it showed. He couldn’t lie, it _smelled_ good, but he had no idea how to approach eating it.

“Just follow my lead, Meyek,” said Meghann from beside him, and he glanced over and after watching her shovel food into her mouth expertly, Meyek coped the motion successfully. “It’s very good, Lieutenant,” said Meghann.

Meyek watched Alenko nod his thanks in the corner of his vision. “Just watching you teach Mr. Master Sniper here to eat spaghetti is all the thanks I need, but I appreciate it.” Alenko had a big grin on his face, one that slowly faded before he said his next words. “You guys are…something else, you know that?”

Williams nodded, “You move so quick, you heal so quick. Do you…feel human?” Alenko immediately gave Williams an admonishing look, and she immediately backpedaled, “I’m sorry, it just sorta fell out. Please don’t answer that.”

“Sure,” said Meyek, soon as his mouth was cleared of food. “I’ve known a couple Astartes in my time. They make me feel plenty human.”

“Astartes?” asked Alenko, as if trying to remember something. “You mean the armored giants that the Lord Admiral and Marshall showed us images of when we first encountered you? They’re _human_?”

Meyek and Meghann exchanged a look before Meyek nodded. “At one point, yeah. They don’t start out like that. You should try having a conversation with one too. Few can hold one for long.”

“It’s an issue we learn to deal with, Gunnery Chief, Lieutenant. No different from your biotics,” she said gesturing to Alenko.

Alenko nodded solemnly. He paused for a moment, as if he was in thought, “Do you guys ever have…problems, with what’s in you?”

“Those that have problems don’t make it this far. They make very sure each operative is compatible first, the tests to ensure you’re good enough weed out those who aren’t,” said Meyek. “We’re a big investment, each of us, they take a lot of care to ensure that we’re the best we can be. Anything less is a waste.”

Alenko nodded slowly, “I wish that’s how they looked at biotics. It’s getting better, though. Anyway, I not going to waste your time moping.”

Meghann flashed him what Meyek thought was a comforting smile, “We’ve had a long time to get where we are, Lieutenant, it’ll happen.”

That seemed to improve his mood, and he nodded, “Fair point. Anyways, I hope you two get better, it’s kinda sad to see you two cooped up in here.” He looked at the dishes and then added, “I’ll swing by and pick up the dishes when you’re done.” With that, he and Williams left.

Silence filled the medbay once the doors closed behind the departing Alliance personnel. Meyek began silently shoveling the last of the bowl’s contents into his mouth when he heard Meghann speak, “Artan Valerius.” Meyek turned to see what she was talking about. “An Ultramarines sergeant I had served with a while ago. I was reminded of him when you’d mentioned the difficulty of dealing with the Astartes.” She looked off into the distance before scoffing, “We didn’t get along so well.”

“What? You? Not get along with someone?” he asked with mock sincerity, and in typical Meyek fashion, laying it on thick. Meghann actually laughed. A smile crawled onto his face as well, weak and awkward. “Who would have trouble working with you?”

“I’ll admit, I can be abrasive at times,” said Meghann, looking somewhat apologetic. Meyek was taken aback by her sincerity. Had he struck a chord? Or was this just a result of their shared near-death experience?

“Hey, I’ve seen you be nice when you want to,” replied Meyek, about to furnish several examples but then stopping himself. That might have been taking it a little too far. 

“This is…different, for me. All of it. I’ve never worked with my fellow assassins before, and this place…” said Meghann, her voice trailed off and she looked up at him with an apologetic look on her face. “I’m sorry.” Meyek had only a moment to appreciate her apology until they both heard the door begin to _hiss_ open.

Standing in the doorway, leering at them through his skull mask, was Skall Modrak. “As am I,” he said, completely unfazed by the two guns pointed at him. He probably knew that he was at no risk of being killed by his fellow assassins, especially after the lengths they’d gone through to keep him alive. Both Meyek and Meghann slowly, and begrudgingly lowered their weapons.

Skall’s free hand slowly and deliberately removed his helmet, which came free with the _hiss_ of releasing seals. The Eversor had grey eyes, his head was shaved, and his olive-toned face was as adorned with scars as it was with heavy stubble.

“I was a fool, clouded by my own failure. My inability to process the hypnoconditioning blinded me to friend or foe. What you both did was admirable. Eliminating me was the safer option, accounting for bio-meltdown, of course,” he said, with what passed barely as a casual tone.

There was silence for a moment after he spoke. Meyek naturally, was the one to break it, voice lower and weaker than he would’ve liked, but not unsure, “And risk you literally blowing up in our faces? Consider it a favor, big guy. From all of us.”

Skall snorted, and then the slightest hint of a smile flickered across his weathered features, “That is…acceptable.”

**Lord Marshall Bertie Lissie**

A good old-fashioned ground invasion was just what they needed. Being cooped up on the ship was starting to drive everyone a little stir crazy. After that incident with the Clade Eversor Operative, he was more than a little glad to be off the ship for a little while. Luckily, the Geth left plenty on the surface of Solcrum for them to deal with.

Planetary scans had indicated that they’d landed one of their Frigates and had centered the defenses of their main outpost on the planet around this Frigate. Bertie had no idea how the Alliance, let alone Shepard herself would have dealt with this particular problem. He had more than a few ideas regarding this.

The one he’d went with in the end was a diversionary armored assault to draw the Geth’s attention away from the outpost. Now, a Geth Frigate could do some serious damage if it was allowed to, but the Geth had parked theirs to be used as a mobile strongpoint. According to power signature scans cross-referenced with data given to them by the Alliance, it wasn’t going to be taking off any time soon. That made their job all the easier.

The Falchion Super-Heavy Tank Destroyer had two Volcano Cannons, a weapon capable of stripping the void shields of mighty Titans and laying them low. Given the after action report of one Lieutenant Galan Maxim, the pilot of the bomber they’d deployed to destroy the outposts on the planet Maji, he was sure that his tank would be up to the task of destroying the Geth ship on the ground.

Naturally, drawing them away from the outpost was only part of the plan. The other part of the plan was to land a team to enter the outpost, neutralize any resistance and await arrival of an Enginseer to download the data that the Geth had been transmitting from the other outposts. He’d left that part of the plan in Major Thule’s capable hands.

Thule had naturally come through with a fantastic plan. With the Geth distracted, they were perfectly poised to infiltrate the base via an Ursh-pattern Prowler gunship. Thule had served with distinction for more than a hundred years now, Bertie was confident that he could pull it off. A quick look at the hololithic table behind him told him that it was enough time for musing, they would be in weapons range any moment now.

Escorting his tank was a pair of Fellblade Super Heavy Tanks, and their escorts. These escorts consisted of a pair of Lykaon Cascades and a trio of Lykaon Carronades per tank, the perfect blend of anti-tank and anti-infantry support. Usually they’d have anti-aircraft support as well, but given that the Geth airpower was effectively non-existent, he’d elected to leave their AAA on board the ship.

They’d landed some ways off from the outpost, advancing towards it at a steady pace. So far, the Geth seemed none the wiser. He watched in silence as the tank moved into ‘position’ on the tactical map. “We’re in position, sir. Should just be a few moments to range it in. Waiting on your word, sir.”

“Well, don’t wait on my account,” said Bertie, giving the targeting data and their positions one last look over with his experienced eyes. “Fire at will,” he said over the intercom. His tank’s gunners didn’t need a second invitation. Perched atop an incline, Bertie’s Falchion fired two bright lances of energy that hit the Geth ship and passed through the other end. It was barely a perceptible second later that an explosion mushroomed out of the disabled Geth vessel. “That must’ve got their attention,” muttered Bertie as he waited for signs of the Geth response.

Predictably, Geth walkers began advancing toward their position. Firing solutions from the other tanks were represented on the tactical map by white lines from the tanks’ hololithic representation with a data readout to tell him which weapons the tank’s commander intended to use. Jovian-pattern Hellfire Plasma Carronades from the nine Lykaon Carronades were set to vaporize the advance Geth Armatures, while quad lascannon fire from the two Fellblades and his own tank were set to neutralize the Geth Colossi advancing behind them.

Bertie’s previous orders meant that the tanks would fire when they could, he just waited to enjoy the show. Brilliant blue energy discharged from the smaller main battle tanks, two shots each. Like that, the Geth advance almost ground to a halt, the explosive detonations of plasma consumed the Geth constructs, leaving only charred scrap. Bertie didn’t know if the Geth felt fear, but the Armatures slowing their pace told Bertie they suddenly didn’t feel very confident about their chances. It was too late for them now. Lascannon fire punched through the Geth Colossi with ease. It wasn’t as spectacular as the plasma, but the what was left of the lascannon ravaged chassis of the Armatures dropped.

Geth turret defenses turned to engage them, rockets detonating harmlessly against the front armor of the Super Heavy tanks. The turrets didn’t’ survive long enough to realize their mistake. AP rounds from the Fellblade’s accelerator cannons made short work of them. One moment they were there, and the next they were shorn clean off their mounts. “Well that was a jolly good show, chaps,” said Bertie over their shared frequency. “Jobs out of our hands now, but I gather that’s got their attention.”

“If fighting the Geth is going to be this easy, I think we should ask the Alliance to point us in the direction of more,” said Antarius Maedke, tank commander of the Fellblade on his right. 

“Come now, we don’t want to make the Alliance look _too_ bad, we’re trying to be friendly after all. In any case, it’s only sporting we leave _some_ Geth for them,” replied Bertie, chuckling to himself, and eliciting the chuckles of many of the other tank commanders and his own command crew.

**Major Valerian Thule**

Major Thule was confident that even if he was on the other hemisphere of the planet, he would have been able to see Lord Marshall Lissie’s signal. The destruction of the Geth Frigate was spectacular, and the morale boost it gave his men was tremendous. The cabin lights turned from red to green, the rear ramp lowered down. “Green light, sir. Geth haven’t noticed us yet,” came Lieutenant Alysha Blashak’s voice over the vox.

“Good job, Lieutenant,” he said as his men activated their armor’s cloaking systems. The chameleoline coating made them flicker before vanishing into nothing. They hadn’t used it during their boarding operations for the simple reason that the extreme close quarters nature of the fight made it ineffective. Once you fired with an energy weapon, you gave your position away. It did however ensure that you had first strike capability and could move without your enemy knowing just quite where you were.

Perhaps, if they’d attempted to use the cloaking systems, the xenos would have not detected them, but it was not the time to think on that now. In short order, his Veletaris were out and in position outside the gunship. Lieutenant Blashak’s Prowler took off and moved away, waiting for word of mission completion.

He’d brought his command squad with him. The _Reavers_ had been his command since before the start of the Great Crusade, and new blood refreshed the old from time to time. He personally made sure that he knew that every man and woman in each squad was at their best.

As they moved up toward the base, they picked up Geth outside the base. Three Geth troops armed with missile launchers. Everyone in the _Reavers_ was a marksman, that went double for their designated marksmen. “Romanos, Hallas, you know what to do,” he said. Both marksmen dropped to a knee and brought their Accatran-pattern Heavy Sniper Rifles to bear. The massive suppressors on the bullpup rifles kept their discharge quiet enough to not be audible even at this distance, though standing right next to Romanos he could hear the report of her rifle.

High caliber rounds took the head off of the two Geth on the outer guard towers, and before the third came to the realization that they were under attack it took a pair of rounds to the head and torso respectively. “Good work. Stavros, get me that door open. Darius, cover him,” he said. He couldn’t tell if the door was unlocked or not, but it never paid to be too careful.

“On it, sir,” came Stavros’s reply as he and Darius moved up to the door. Stavros checked the door, and lo and behold it was unlocked. It seemed the Geth weren’t on full alert yet. Once this door opened, that was going to change for sure. Darius led the way, his Jovian-pattern Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle shouldered. Stavros checked his Volkite Charger, and then followed behind him.

The rest of the two squads moved in to follow behind them when he heard Darius’ voice over the vox, “Boss, auspex is acting funny. Ghost readings. Advise?”

“Let’s take this one step at a time, Corporal. If the Geth are jamming our auspexes, we’ll just have to keep shooting until none of them are left,” said Thule as he entered. Thule made sure his Veletaris knew that an over reliance on their gear was a quick way to die. There were three Geth on the ground floor, Destroyer models if he remembered his briefing packet correctly. The damned things were huge, easily eleven feet tall. That old Terran saying came to mind, the bigger they were, the harder they fell. Those shotguns were deadly according to reports, they just needed to ensure that they stayed out of its range.

Up on the roof was what concerned Thule the most, a Geth Juggernaut. They could take quite a beating, even from their weapons. The Geth Pulse rifle that they carried wasn’t particularly deadly, but it sure hit hard. He’d taken a few glancing shots from one when they’d went down to assist the crew of the downed bomber. He wasn’t looking forward to repeating that experience. He took up position with his command squad, their targets appearing on his HUD.

“Execute,” he breathed into his helmet mic, and immediately his squad went into action around him. Two high caliber rounds smacked into the Geth Juggernaut, staggering it backward away from the balcony’s edge above. Two Volkite beams sizzled into the Geth Destroyer to his right, eating into the plating and incinerating the electronics underneath. A hail of plasma bolts flash boiled the torso of the one to his left. The one in the center was all but shredded by a withering barrage of armor-piercing manstopper rounds from Corporal Petro’s Rotor Cannon before he flash vaporized its head with a burst of plasma bolts from his Jovian-pattern Phased Plasma Pulse Rifle.

It was the Geth’s turn to respond. The Juggernaut leapt down from the balcony, denting the floor plating where he landed with a dull resonating _thud_. A hail of fire from his Pulse Rifle glanced off of Petro’s armor’s side plating, causing his camouflage to flicker and the Corporal to take cover. A Geth Stalker knocked Darius down with a single shot from its head mounted weapon and its companion tried to finish the job if Darius wasn’t dragged back into cover just in time. This cost the Geth their lives, Romanos and Hallas immediately put a high caliber round into their heads. The Geth fell from their perches on the ceiling like puppets who had their strings cut.

The charging Geth Juggernaut lost its left arm and weapon to a shot from Corporal Vitalis’s Volkite Caliver. Their anti-tank gunner traded out his suspensor equipped Man-Portable Lascannon for the weapon before he’d left for this mission. Only a last-minute pivot from the Geth had saved it from destruction. The only problem was now it was in the Corporal’s face and attempting to bash it in with its working hand. The Corporal dropped the heavy weapon and drew his mono-knife with commendable alacrity. He swung the blade and severed one of the many cables on the Geth’s back, spraying him with white fluid.

Thule immediately slung his rifle and drew his power sword. The blade crackled to life and stepping forward, he disengaged his cloak. When he got to Vitalis, he was ducking under a swing from the construct. With an upward arcing swing of his sword, he removed the limb at the shoulder. He turned and put his weight behind a diagonal decapitating strike. For good measure, he waited till the headless chassis hit the floor before impaling the weapon into its ‘torso’ and twisting for good measure.

Slowly sheathing his weapon, he glanced over at Vitalis to see if he was okay. Vitalis gave him a reassuring nod. “Sitrep,” he asked, turning toward where Darius was being tended to by Specialist Galanos.

“I’m fine, sir,” insisted Darius. “It’s just a scratch.” The round had punched through the armor just above his waist on the extreme right. It was a lucky shot, or just a good one. The Geth were living machines, they probably made the calculations to take a shot like that with ease.

Thule shifted his gaze to Specialist Galanos. “He’s fine, sir. He’ll make a full recovery once I can patch him up,” she said, administering a dose of stim to the wounded Veletaris.

Thule nodded, “Good.” He’d already lost one of his men in this place, he didn’t need any more dying. Switching to the Lord Marshall’s command frequency, he informed him of their success, “Reaver 6 to Command, objective complete, Geth presence neutralized. One injured. Over.”

“Excellent work old chap,” came Lord Marshall Lissie’s response. “I’ll send the Enginseers over to grab that data. Just hang around, yes? Over.”

“Understood sir, we’ll hold position here. Reaver 6, out,” he said, cutting the line and letting out a sigh. Their job was finally done. The auspex finally gave them a clear report, there were no more contacts in the base. Looking over the destroyed Geth in the base, Thule decided it was prudent to make one final sweep and took Private Petrakis and Raptis and did a quick sweep of the base. There was nothing left of the Geth. Just dust and echoes.

**Commander Riley Shepard**

With her HMWSR stored in the locker, Riley pulled off her helmet and ran her hand through her hair, then letting out a sigh. That business with the Salarian doctor was something else. If there’s one thing she’d learned so far, and that this whole Saren situation confirmed, was that civilization didn’t need help in creating its own monsters.

On that subject, she’d been pleasantly surprised by Skall so far. When he wasn’t trying to take their head off, he wasn’t all that bad. So far in any case, she hadn’t talked to him all that much, but when she saw him going to the med bay…Well, there were no explosions yet, so she assumed that things were going well between the three of them.

“Shepard,” said a voice from behind her, Riley hadn’t even heard them approach, but she recognized the voice as Ray’s. “Do you have a moment, there’s something we need to talk about.” For a moment she wondered what the assassin had to talk about, in her experience he didn’t really come around to talk to her unless it was something important.

“Sure, Ray, what’s going on?” she said, turning around and tucking her helmet into the crook of her arm.

“Got word from the Lord Marshall,” started Ray. Immediately, Riley was worried. The last time they’d heard from the Imperium, they’d been called back to deal with Skall. Ray must’ve picked up on this, because he immediately commented on it, “Relax, Shepard, it’s good news. They sent us some data that they recovered from a Geth outpost in the Solcrum system. They’ve sent a copy to Admiral Hackett, but they felt like you might have something to do with a copy.”

Riley immediately realized that there was something on board their ship who could put that information to very good use. “I can think of someone who might have some use for that,” she said, a smile forming on her face.

Ray nodded, “As can I. I’m sure data like this will help with her pilgrimage.” Ray handed her a data storage unit, presumably with the data on it.

“I’m sure she’ll appreciate it,” said Riley, nodding as she took the data storage unit from him. She began walking toward the reactor bay and then paused, “You want to come with? I don’t plan on taking credit for this.” Ray hesitated for a moment, but he nodded and followed behind her.

Returning the salute from Engineer Adams, she walked over to Tali, who turned around when she heard them approach. “Shepard, I er-, what can I do for you?”

“Actually Tali, we got you a little something,” said Riley, holding out the data storage unit to her. “On that storage unit is data captured from a Geth outpost. I hope that will help with your pilgrimage.”

Tali took the storage unit from her, holding it with great reverence and care, almost as if it would break if someone looked at it wrong. She immediately began copying the data, tapping away at her Omnitool for a moment before she looked up at her, “I…thank you, Shepard. I don’t know what to say. This will definitely help our people against the Geth, not immediately of course, we’ll have to study it. But it will give us new insight into how the Geth have evolved and changed over the past years.”

Riley was smiling now, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Ray was too. “Well, don’t just thank me. Ray got a copy of the data, he just gave it to me. We decided that it was best to leave it with you.”

Tali was at a loss for words, she looked at both of them, “I…really don’t know what to say. Except thank you, both of you. My people, I, owe you a great debt. One I can never repay. The only thing I can offer you is what you already have; my solemn promise to stay with you until Saren and his Geth armies are defeated.”

“I never wanted anything more,” said Riley, truly touched by Tali’s words. She knew how important it was to Tali, but she also knew that the data was the only real reason she had to stay on the _Normandy_. Riley was glad that she was here to stay, the young Quarian was growing on her, and on someone else if she was reading into things right. Tali thanked her, and Riley nodded her acknowledgement and flashed Tali a smile before stepping back and turning back to head toward the locker rooms.

Shepard was about to remove her armor when she heard the sound of Krogan footfalls, and turning she saw Wrex approach her. He had an uneasy air about him. She hadn’t seen a Krogan that looked as uneasy as Wrex did now in a long time. “Wrex, is something wrong?” she asked, the concern in her voice clear and evident.

“Shepard,” said Wrex, standing there for a moment, almost as if he was thinking about what to say. “I’ve got a favor to ask you.”

**Archmagos Hypax**

Conjecture was a fool’s errand. It led to decisions that had little base in reality. These decisions led to mistakes. Mistakes led to loss of valuable material and personnel. Hypax had learned very young the price of making a decision based on incomplete information. It had cost him his mortal form. Data, was the only surety in Hypax’s experience.

The Throne Agent had provided with him just that. Data. Hard evidence that could scarcely be ignored. It’s implications however, were perplexing to say the least. Translation of the data proved one thing, and one thing only; they were not alone. The message was a standard interrogative from an Agrimensor Cadre, the message’s checksum verified this without a doubt.

The truth, the data, raised more questions than it answered. However, to ponder such questions, would lead to conjecture. There was only one way to solve this, and that was to venture down to the planet’s surface himself while his friends performed their favor for the Alliance. They did not need his help, not with this matter, and the matter he was investigating took precedence over whatever the Alliance wanted.

His Tempestavex-pattern Stormbird passed through Ferrous Prime’s atmosphere. He allowed himself a moment’s amusement regarding the planet’s name. It was very fitting, the planet had extremely high concentrations of metal deposits beneath its surface of almost unyielding tropical rainforests. The presence of an oxygen rich atmosphere enabled the craft to switch over to its airbreathing turbo ramjets.

The flight continued toward the location of the signal without event. Hypax was connected to the craft and its crew, its scanners were an extension of his very own senses. His escorts, a trio of Hyperax Interceptor Automata, were also networked into his personal transport, the wonders of Adept Zeth’s creation really made coordinating his forces so much easier.

The auger arrays were constantly scanning the horizon as the Tempestavex-pattern Stormbird and its escorts continued toward the signal source. At first, faint auger returns picked up a _massive_ object in the distance. The interference was significant, enough to dismiss it as atmospherics playing hell with the craft’s sensors. The Ordo Reductor Archmagos however, was not so easily dismayed.

Hypax ‘listened’ to the interference carefully. Once more, careful examination of data rather than resorting to conjecture bore fruit. The interference had a pattern to it, one that repeated itself ever so subtly. In fact, it wasn’t atmospheric noise or false returns, it was something that was trying very hard to appear like it. Perhaps a little too hard.

Hypax attempted to filter out the ‘interference’ from the auger return data, fresh data providing a large enough sample size to ease the process. His neural cogitator array and bio-electric brain powered through the calculations at a frightening rate. An approximation of the true auger returns was yielded, and as proximity to the signal location and the object that was bouncing their auger scans, a more detailed picture was created.

Data didn’t lie. It couldn’t. The only falsehoods came from those interpreting it. There was no mistaking this. The auger returns matched a Perspeculorax-class Ark Mechanicus, an old pattern used by the early Explorators of Mars. This particular vessel was bearing no transponder beacon, and at this range auger scans indicated that the vessel was in a low power state, enough to keep sensor suites active such that the crew could be raised from stasis should the vessel come under attack.

Hypax was on the cusp on making the incorrect assumption that they would have to approach the ship and wake the crew, when the ship’s auger detected six contacts moving fast on an intercept vector. The contacts were resolved as Silphar Ornithopters. Immediately, a schematic of the insectoid craft was pulled up. Its midsection of the craft resembled an insect’s thorax, the craft’s main anti-grav engines, turbofan drives and flapping insect like wings were attached to the top. A pair of Setheno pattern havoc launchers and photon thrusters along with three pairs of legs were attached to the underside of the craft. The head, containing the craft’s servitor-brain and main sensor cluster bore a pair of tri-optic targeters. The abdomen contained rudimentary rocket engines to allow it to enter a planet’s atmosphere from a waiting ship in orbit. The Silphar was a favorite of the Explorators, but the three craft were no threat to him.

The ship’s systems warned that they’d been target locked. Hypax quickly issued an order for his escorts to stand down.  The ‘lead’ Ornithopter issued a standard interrogative. The required counter response was an older one, but one still in use. It was transmitted immediately over the data-link between his craft and the Ornithopters. The change was immediate, the Ornithopters altered their course, and his ship was hailed.

The incoming message bore the transponder code of the ship, identifying it as _The Truth-seeker_ , an Explorator vessel declared missing mere days before the Triumph at Ullanor. The message was in Lingua-Technis, naturally. Hypax’s augmented brain understood Lingua-Technis natively, and to hear it in this strange place was a comfort to him. “<Praise be to the Omnissiah, at long last we have been located, by his servants no less! I am Magos Explorator Varaxian, to whom do I speak?>”

Hypax had heard of Varaxian. He had a history of recovering many lost automation technologies. Many, were in use by his own forces, in the fighters that escorted him and in the crew of his Tempestavex-pattern Stormbird. Hypax had been wanting to meet with him, but the Crusade had kept him occupied. What Varaxian had been investigating when he went missing, no one could say for sure, he left for parts with little word to others. Whatever Varaxian had been investigating had somehow brought him here. Perhaps, he had more answers than they did, answers that would be welcome.

“<Praise be to the Omnissiah indeed. I am Archmagos Reductor Hypax of Ordo Reductor War Covenant D-07. There is much to speak about, Magos Varaxian. Perhaps we might have this discussion in person?>” asked Hypax over the secured vox link.

“<Of course, I will transmit navigational data to your ship. I eagerly await our conversation, by the Machine God, we have much to discuss,>” replied Varaxian. Hypax, being connected to the ship’s systems, immediately received the coordinates as well. As he perceived their progress through the ship’s forward vid array, the path taken by the pilot was overlaid to show their path to their destination.

The details of the approach were irrelevant, the site in which the ancient vessel was nestled was nothing short of extraordinary. The massive eighteen-kilometer-long vessel had crashed beside a vast lake that looked far smaller in comparison with the grand craft. The vegetation had regrown on the scar in the earth created by the craft’s landing, creating a natural camouflage of sorts for the downed craft. If Hypax didn’t have the benefit of some of the best sensor technology available to the Mechanicus and the added benefit of already knowing what he was looking for, he would have surely disregarded what he was seeing as unimportant. Former attempts at civilizing the world reclaimed by nature, not a fully functioning self-sustaining marvel of the Omnissiah’s bounty hiding in plain sight.

Almost unsurprisingly, it was a hive of activity. The fusion of the created and the natural was genuinely impressive. Ornithopters buzzed around like giant mechanical insects, clinging to towering trees, the recharging stations built into aforementioned trees were almost invisible. He recognized the Formidax Artillery Tanks that tracked his craft from atop the canopy as it made its approach to the hangar. The Formidax were used by many Ordo Reductor War Covenants, his own being no exception. It showed the extent of the cooperation between the Ordo Reductor and Magos Varaxian. Each Explorator had varied relationships with the various factions of the Mechanicus. Varaxian’s outlook made him unpopular with many of the traditionalists, but those within the Ordo Reductor could scarcely ignore his results. The crucible of war cared little for tradition, after all, and the Ordo Reductor’s primary purpose was to wage war against the enemies of the Omnissiah.

A sense of familiarity returned as the Stormbird touched down inside the hangar. The three Hyperax Interceptor Automata touched down on a pair of heavy clawed feet like giant metal raptors, their forward swept wings folding to create more space for other craft. Varaxian it seemed, was waiting for him. An Agrimensor cadre waited beside him. Varaxian was by no means defenseless. He stood tall on backwards multiple joined armored augmentic legs. Auger scans picked up a pair of deactivated retracted power blades in his arms. A pair of servo-mounted Eradication Beamers extended from the back of his Dragon Scale armor, over which he wore the red robes of the Martian priesthood.

Hypax disengaged from the ship’s systems and switched his focus back to the shared data-link between his bodyguards and himself. Taking position at the ramp, he waited till the pilot lowered it. Once the ramp had descended amongst the hiss of hydraulics and the cloud of escaping gasses, so too did he. The first steps on the deck plating sent a shiver up what was left of his spine, it _felt_ too good to be true. Data however, didn’t lie.

Immediately, his bodyguards, the two Conqueror-pattern Battle Automata and four Thallax transmitted a host of targets and firing solutions to him, ranked in order of that which posed the highest threat to them. It was of course, merely a precaution. “<Archmagos Hypax, we meet at last.>” If Varaxian thought anything of the modified Conqueror-pattern Automata chassis which he now resided in, he said nothing.

“<Magos Varaxian, you are a sight for sore optical receptors in a strange realm,>” responded Hypax.

Varaxian seemed to hesitate for a moment, his delay in response signifying this. “<Forgive me, Archmagos, your words have failed to correctly parse. Do you mean to say that you are not here as part of a recovery effort?>”

Hypax had hoped to have this conversation in person. How else could he explain the sheer lunacy of their situation, and in turn hear the explanation for what he was witnessing? “<No, Magos Varaxian, we have arrived here through currently inexplicable means.>”

There was another delay, as Varaxian no doubt processed this information, “<You did not follow our work then? I left information with Archmagos Explorator Vulpine on Stygies VII, he was to tell Mars of the relic in the event that we did not report in at the pre-arranged time.>”

It was Hypax’s turn to be confused now. He knew Stygies VII had the unfortunate habit of dabbling with perhaps more xenos technology than was good for them, but what was this relic? Was it xenos, or a relic of humanity’s past? More importantly, what did it have to do with their current predicament? “<It is my turn to seek forgiveness, Magos, but did you say relic? What does this relic have to do with this situation we have found ourselves in?>”

Varaxian suddenly became very still, “<My dear, Archmagos Hypax, that relic is the reason we have been stranded here for the last half century.>”


End file.
